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Recent Woodridge graduate Vibushan Sivakumaran is headed to Raleigh, N.C., and North Carolina State University to compete for the Wolfpack track team.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – The distance running pipeline from Woodridge High School to Raleigh, N.C., has produced yet another NCAA Division I collegiate athlete.

Vibushan Sivakumaran, aka V-Bush, one of the premier distance runners to come out of the Portage Trail Conference (PTC) or Portage County League (PCL), has signed with North Carolina State University and follows in the footsteps of 2008 Woodridge graduate Brian Himelright and 2009 grad Erin Mercer.

Sivakumaran anchored the Woodridge 4x800-meter relay which earlier this month won the Division II state championship in an all-time Ohio High School record time of 7:37.43.

“We kept our heads in the game. We still knew we had the state championships,” Sivakumaran said on June 3 in Columbus after Woodridge had upset St. Vincent-St. Mary to win the boys 4x8 state laurels. “We laid it on the line today.”

He also placed second in the 800 (1:53.45) to St. V-M’s Jacob Swords.

The Bulldogs on June 18 placed fifth in the 6,400-meter relay (17:53.00) at the New Balance Track & Field Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Sivakumaran has been a mainstay in the Bulldogs extending their dominance of OHSAA Division II boys cross country to five straight state titles. V-Bush placed seventh at the 2010 state cross country meet and 18th the previous year.

“I knew that I first wanted to be a part of this back in the eighth grade when I saw Woodridge win its first state title,” Sivakumaran said soon after Woodridge clinched No. 5 in a row last fall. “I moved my way up, brought people with me. This is what I do. I lead this team and that’s what I want to do.”

Himelright and Mercer both compete for the Wolfpack. Himelright ran the 5,000 meters at the 2011 ACC championships, while Mercer placed third in the 3,000 steeplechase (10:18.86) and sixth in the 5,000 (16:47.41) at the Atlantic Coast Conference meet.

‘We talk about family first,” Woodridge coach Jeff Howard said. “We’ve had some great kids and it has been fun to coach them.”

In addition to V-Bush, Jimmy Charles is committed to Tiffin University and Jacob Onifer will enroll at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

Charles and Onifer both were teammates of Sivakumaran on the record-setting 4x8 relay, along with senior-to-be Drake Sulzer. Charles and Onifer also were members of the Bulldogs’ state championship cross country team.

The Woodridge girls distance program also has three athletes moving on to the next level. Cross country state runner-up Morgan Willis and teammate Maria Moore, who placed eighth, both will attend the University of Akron to compete for the Zips.  Their 4x8 relay placed second (9:12.42) and Willis was the Division II 1,600 meters champion (5:01.25), while Moore took second (5:01.56) at the 2011 OHSAA state track meet.

Teammate Miranda Stockton intends to do the same for the University of Mount Union. 

Thrower Alex Beane will continue her academic and athletic career at Ursuline College.