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Copley senior Nick Pupino established an early lead and then held off the field to win the Akron Division I District individual boys title.

AKRON, Ohio – How good is Hudson’s girls cross country team?

The Explorers were able to win the Akron Division I District championship on Saturday afternoon at Goodyear Heights Metro Park despite continuing to train hard last week leading up to the district meet.

And while there were championship smiles among the team members, they were weary smiles as the Explorers were arm-in-arm for a team photograph.

“They are really tired right now,” Hudson coach Ed Hoffmeier said. “This last week wasn’t any different than previous weeks.  We’re not going to taper until probably halfway through next week and then we’ll start bringing them down.

Hoffmeier’s team has bigger goals and he’s not about to show his cards just yet.

“I wish I could back them off and unload them so we could see how really good they are right now, but that’s not as important as the state championship meet,” he said.

Hudson (63 points) won the district by a comfortable margin over Boardman regional qualifying teams Solon (84), Walsh Jesuit (90), Cuyahoga Falls (104), Stow-Munroe Falls (161) and Nordonia (168).

Junior Caroline Sauers was, as expected, Hudson’s top finisher in second place (19:41.37).

“I really hoped that my time would have been better than it was, but I knew there were going to be some really fast girls here,” Sauers said.  “My main goal is just to be 19 minutes to get close to my PR last year which was an 18:11 and try to beat that hopefully later in the season at the next two meets.”

It is an individual sacrifice Sauers is making in order to be at her best for the regional and state meets.

“Caroline was especially tired because she had a really hard week,” Hoffmeier said.

Complete AKRON DIVISION I Girls Results, Click HERE

Enter Firestone senior Sarah Meek (19:30.69) and she stepped up to win a district championship.

“We talked about it all week about how she had the ability to win,” Firestone coach Malia Tschantz said. “She set out a goal to run a 19:30 and she did and took first place with it.

“We run this course once a week, so I know she’s confident on it. And we train all summer on the hill. So, I guess the secret on this course is not to start out fast like you would on a flat course because if you start off too fast that hill is going to dominate you.

“Knowing the course, training on the course and being confident with the course are the biggest secrets.”

Meek believes the Akron City schools have an advantage at Goodyear Heights Metro Park because it is their home course.

“My goal honestly was to get top five,” she said. “So, I went out there and my coach kind of helped me devise that plan. My coach has been really great this year. Every year she’s been great, but this year she’s really worked with me a lot to get me to run well.”

Meek ran her PR time for Goodyear Heights.

“I focus on The Lord and that’s what gets me through every race,” she said.

Walsh Jesuit sophomore Melinda Renuart (19:51.08) finished third. Cuyahoga Falls runners Lauren Scourfield (19:55.12), a sophomore, and senior Allison Hainer (19:57.93), placed fourth and fifth, respectively, and ran under 20:00.

Solon junior Therese Haiss (20:07.15) was sixth. 

Akron Division I District boys

Copley senior Nick Pupino paced the field with a time of 15:56 and the Walsh Jesuit boys team won the team crown at the Akron Division I District.  The Warriors were led by seniors Tony Howkins (16:23) and Matthew Krakora (16:41) and juniors Brian Brennan (16:53) and Jordan Sheppard (16:58).  All four finished in the top 10 runners.  Howkins finished second behind Pupino and Krakora came in fourth place, while Brennan took seventh and Sheppard finished in 10th place.

Joining Walsh Jesuit as teams advancing to the Youngstown Regional were Hudson, Stow-Munroe Falls and Nordonia.  Seniors Nolan Reilly, Matt Chojnacki and junior Vince Moeglin guided the Explorers to a third place finish.  Reilly and Chojnacki finished back-to-back in 13th and 14th place, and Moeglin was just one spot back in 16th place.

Complete AKRON DIVISION I Boys Results, Click HERE

The Bulldogs took fourth place and had a top five runner in senior Nick Hall (5th, 16:46.19) and a top 10 runner in senior Joseph Wisniewski (9th, 16:57).  The Knights took fifth place as senior Patrick Osborne traversed the course in 16:46.68 to finish sixth individually.

The top six teams qualify to Youngstown Boardman.

Twinsburg just missed qualify as a team, finishing in seventh place behind Kenston, but the Tigers did qualify sophomores Garrett Crichlow and Nick Schank as individuals.   Crichlow placed third with a time of 16:30 and Schank ran a time of 17:05 to take 12th place.

Strongsville Division I District girls

At Strongsville, the Brunswick Blue Devils ran away from the field, beating second place Brecksville-Broadview Heights 46-88 to win the Division I Strongsville District championship, with four runners finishing in the top 10 competitors.

Complete STRONGSVILLE DIVISION I Girls Results, Click HERE

Seniors Selena Pasadyn, Alexis Uber, Loren McDaniel and sophomore Kristine Camper all finished within 27 seconds of each other.  Pasadyn was the Blue Devils’ top finisher taking fourth place in 19:55.  Uber took sixth in 20:06, while McDaniel and Camper finished back-to-back in ninth and 10th place in 20:11 and 20:22, respectively.

While Brunswick took the team title, Wadsworth senior Paige Szabat raced to an individual district title with a time of 19:16, 18 seconds faster than Berea sophomore Miranda DiBiasio.

The Medina Bees were the only other local team to place in the top four and therefore qualify for the Tiffin Regional next weekend.  Senior Anna Boyert took fifth place in 19:59 to lead the Bees.

Strongsville Divsion I District boys

The Brunswick and Medina boys cross country teams both advanced out of the Strongsville District to run at the Tiffin Regional next weekend.  The Blue Devils finished in second place behind champion St. Ignatius 54-74, and the Bees finished just behind Brunswick, 74-76, in third place.

Complete STRONGSVILLE DIVISION I Boys Results, Click HERE

Brunswick was led by junior Tyler Menear, who finished as the top local finisher in third place in a time of 16:51.  Senior Austin Olshavsky and junior Logan Indre also ran well for the Blue Devils, taking 14th and 15th place, respectively.

The Bees got a fourth place finish from senior Robert Robinson (16:53), while fellow senior Brad Palocko (16:59) took ninth place.