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The Field girls cross country team won the Stow Bulldog Invitational on Saturday at Silver Springs Park.
MEDINA – The more courses change, the more things stay the same, at least in the case of Copley’s Nick Pupino and Wadsworth’s Paige Szabat at Saturday’s Medina Cross Country Festival.
The duo won their Division I races to join the Medina girls squad as winners at the event right before league meets.
And they did it in impressive fashion.
For Pupino, it was the fifth win in six events, while Szabat picked up her third victory of the year and second in as many meets.
“What Nick is doing is really amazing,” Indians coach Jim Chaney said. “He’s sticking to the plan and is taking every workout seriously.
“He’s following the letter of the law. His talent is a big part of his success, but his discipline is really standing out as well.”
His time of 16:26.3 was so impressive, it bettered his next closest competitor – Howland’s Nathan Sutton – by 25 seconds.
For Szabat, who won last week at the Grizzly Invitational, it was much of the same with an 11-second win over Rocky River’s Elyse Bierut.
The two wins, coupled with a victory at the Suburban League Duals, shows just how far Szabat has come from her season-ending injury a year ago.
“It’s amazing, I throw a time at her and she hits it,” Grizzlies coach Michelle Farr said. “I don’t know that any of us know her potential. It’s unbelievable. She wants the team to do well, but more than anything she wants to succeed. She’s blowing everything out of the water this year.”
Speaking of getting things done, Medina’s girls team ended a three-year run of second-place finishes by finally grabbing the team title.
The Bees beat Massillon Jackson and were led by Anna Boyert, who was racing in just her third meet of the year. Throw in a 14th-place finish by Maria Scavuzzo and it led to a narrow five-point win over the Polar Bears and a ton of confidence as the squad heads into next weekend’s Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division race.
“I’m so excited for the whole team,” Scavuzzo said. “It took every one of us to get it done.
“It’s the perfect time of the year to pick up our first win. It’s super exciting. Especially with the conference next week.”
Buckeye’s Ryan Gallagher finished runner-up for the fifth-place Bucks, while Rootstown was a second-place finisher to Urichsville Claymont in the Division II/III boys race.
For Gallagher, it was a return to the meet after a two-week layoff and a message to the rest of the Patriot Athletic Conference.
“I didn’t run as well as I wanted, but if you ran the way you meant to every race, you’d never get better,” Gallagher said. “I feel like there are two or three runners that can push me in the conference and two are on my team, so this was a good confidence boost.”
Chagrin Falls won the Division II/III girls srace. The closest SportsInk.com school was Buckeye in eighth.
Solon stopped a three-year run by Medina in the Division I boys race, beating the runner-up Bees by seven.
Boys
Division I
Team standings: 1. Solon 58; 2. Medina 65; 3. Massillon Jackson 95; 4. Kenston 125; 5. Howland 174.
Individual standings: 1. Nick Pupino (Cop) 16:26.3; 2. Nathan Sutton (How) 16:51.0; 3. Robert Robinson (Med) 17:04.5; 4. Dan Zupan (Ber) 17:10.5; 5. Kevin Blank (Sol) 17:14.6.
Division II/III
Team standings: 1. Urichsville Claymont 106; 2. Rootstown 135; 3. Western Reserve Academy 167; 4. Padua 196; 5. Buckeye 224.
Individual standings: 1. Josh Laney (Fai) 17:19.1; 2. Ryan Gallagher (Buc) 17:26.0; 3. Josh Schleappi (EC) 17:32.; 4. Seb Tressel (Fai) 17:53.8; 5. Blake Williams (RR) 18:04.0.
Girls
Division I
Team standings: 1. Medina 94; 2. Massillon Jackson 99; 3. Magnificat 117; 4. Wadsworth 149; 5. Solon 160.
Individual standings:1. Paige Szabat (Wad) 19:23.8; 2. Elyse Bierut (RR) 19:34.2; 3. There Haiss (Sol) 19:56.6; 4. Krista Roehlig (Gre) 19:58.4; 5. Miranda DiBiasio (Ber) 20:08.3.
Division II/III
Team standings: 1. Chagrin Falls 73; Minerva 80; 3. Urichsville Claymont 112; 4. Indian Valley 173; 5. Dover 176.
Individual standings: 1. Kaele Lightfoot (Min) 20:27.8; 2. Emmalee Carver (Min) 21:02.5; 3. Brooke Kinsey (Dov) 21:36.7; 4. Katie Frego 21:38.0; 5. Jessica Walkers (CF) 21:45.7.
For a complete Medina Fest results, click here
Field Runs Strong At Stow Invitational
STOW, Ohio -- The Field Falcons girls cross country team came close to sweeping the top four spots at the Stow Invitational at Silver Springs Park on Saturday.
Seniors Kaitlyn Stayer and Destiny Cosentino finished first and second, while Rachel Salberg and Becca Pohlod took fifth and sixth places in the Division II race; only Woodridge sophomore Erin Kiley got between the Falcons.
Field easily won the team title, defeating the Bulldogs 19-45. Woodridge chose to run its top team in the Division I race, where they finished 11th.
The Bulldogs boys did the same thing, and their second team won the Division II race behind Steve Petrak (18:27), who finished in third place, behind the Cortland Lakeview duo of Cris edie and Rick Harris. The Bulldogs from Woodridge edged the Bulldogs from Lakeview in the team standings 35-48. Field sophomore Nate Conroy finished in fourth as the Falcons top finisher.
In the Division I races, Walsh Jesuit and Hudson traded places in the top two spots, as the Warriors won the boys race, and the Explorers were victorious in the girls race.
The Walsh Jesuit boys were led by Tony Howkins' runner-up finish in a time of 16:06, just 13 seconds off the pace of winner Ryan Polman. Howkins was joined in the top 10 by teammates Matthew Krakora and Brian Brennan. The Woodridge ‘A’ team finished behind Walsh Jesuit and Hudson in fourth place, as Drake Sulzer ran through the course in 16:22, good enough for sixth place.
The Explorers were led by individual champion Caroline Sauers (19:12) and junior Madison Hartline, who placed 10th with a time of 20:10. Hudson held off Brecksville-Broadview Heights 93-120 to win the team championship. Firestone senior Sarah Meek finished behind Sauers with a time of 19:29.
For complete Stow Invitational results, click here