SPORTSINK.COM PHOTO
PTC Metro girls runners navigate the steep hill right after the start of the race on Tuesday at Wingfoot Lake Park. Eventual winner Karlie Lieberth of Crestwood is front left.
SUFFIELD TWP., Ohio – The Super Duals is a midterm exam for cross country teams.
What the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division discovered Tuesday at Wingfoot Lake State Park is that the boys race for the rest of the season is going to be up for grabs.
Field (56) was two points better than Crestwood (58) and five points better than Kent Roosevelt (61) and Norton (61).
The Falcons were happy with the win, but they realize roles might easily be reversed next time.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do and there’s still a lot of season left,” said Field senior Mike Robinson who placed fourth (18:27).
That seemed to be the general sentiment for all parties concerned after boys and girls teams had made two 1.5-mile loops around a state park which formerly belonged to Goodyear.
Still, Field coach Ed Conroy got a breakthrough performance from sophomore Ian Tuel who finished 20th overall and fourth on the team. Conroy’s son, Nate, a sophomore transfer from North Canton Hoover, placed fifth overall and second on the team.
The Falcons also expect to be stronger when Kole Williams returns from an injury.
Another common theme was the challenging layout of the course.
Boys winner Steve Green of Crestwood covered the rolling track in 17:31.45 and felt the course was harder than it first appeared.
“I liked it,” Green said. “There weren’t any gradual down hills where you could catch your breath too much and out in the field there where it seemed flat when we were walking the course, it actually was a little bit of an uphill.”
Green gave Crestwood both individual champions as senior Karlie Lieberth won the girls race (20:45.27) by more than 25 seconds.
”It’s cool to say that I can carry on the tradition (of Crestwood distance running),” Green said. “I have big foot prints to follow in.”
Lieberth has elected to follow in those same footsteps with bright, lime green running shoes and neon pink laces. She and three of her teammates were sporting the fashionable shoes.
Is her choice of footwear a senior-year thing?
“I wanted something brighter,” she said. “They feel really good.”
The Red Devils edged Field for top prize on the girls side, 27-34. Kent Roosevelt was third (89) and the rest of the teams were well behind.
Field’s Destiny Cosentino was second (21:10.89) to Lieberth, while Abby Soltisz of Crestwood was third (21:19.91).
One athlete who was new to the Metro Division was glad not to be chasing maroon – as in Woodridge maroon.
Streetsboro senior Pete Hannan was elated to be at Wingfoot Lake and he circled the course in impressive fashion, taking third (18:16).
The Rockets flip-flopped divisions in the conference with Southeast for the 2011-12 school year and Hannan caught some competitors by surprise.
“I knew Woodridge, their top seven, was going to finish 1 through 7 every year in the PTC County Division, so it was exciting coming into the Metro,” Hannan said. “It was fun to run against new people, not Woodridge.”
The Bulldogs are five-time defending Division II state champions.
“When I saw (Hannan) pass me, I was like, ‘Wait a minute. This isn’t how this usually goes,’” Robinson said.
Norton junior Spencer Ziegler placed second in the boys race (17:40.81) and fought through a sore hamstring.
“The last mile I was really pushing it to come in first,” Ziegler said. “But he was just out of reach.”
A standout runner who was conspicuous by his absence at the top of the leader board was Kent Roosevelt senior Doug Miller.
The late-season PTC Metro champion last year, Miller suffered a stress fracture in his back last winter during wrestling season. He missed the second half of track season and then during Tuesday's Super Duals heard “something pop” when he was running downhill in just his fourth cross country race of the season.
PTC Super Duals Metro Division girls results, Click HERE
PTC Super Duals Metro Division boys results, Click HERE
Woodridge dominant at PTC County Super Duals
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio -- The Woodridge boys cross country team had nine runners place in the top 20, led by champion Drake Sulzer, on their way to another PTC Super Duals title on Tuesday.
PTC Super Duals County Division boys results, Click HERE
First-place winner Madison Spreitzer, a Woodridge sophomore, paced 10 Bulldogs in the top 20 and the defending champions (38) were able to easily overcome game challenges by Southeast (65) and Garrettsville Garfield (69).
PTC Super Duals County Division girls results, Click HERE