PHOTO BY TOM LINDER

The St. Vincent-St. Mary girls cross country team won its third straight OHSAA state championship on Saturday in Hebron.

HEBRON, Ohio -- The state tournament has become a two-faced dragon for the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary cross country program. It’s ecstasy for the girls team, agony for the boys.

The Irish girls won their third straight Division II state championship by defeating No. 4-ranked Chillicothe Zane Trace, 89-100, at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.

The St. V-M boys couldn’t perform up to their top-billing and lost to No. 2-ranked Springfield Shawnee, 101-114. It was the second straight year and the fourth time since 2000 that the Irish boys were second.

Junior Marissa Rossetti led the St. V-M girls, finishing eighth (18:33.49). Senior Tessa Weigand (18th, 19:31.91), sophomore Julie Mendiola (26th, 19:25.70), junior Amanda Sollenberger (46th, 19:53.69) and senior Annie Davis (77th, 20:25.08) rounded out the top five.

FOR COMPLETE OHSAA DIV. II GIRLS RESULTS, Click HERE

“It feels great to win another one,” said Rossetti. “We were confident everyone gave it their best, but were still so nervous waiting the final result. We didn’t want to think we won in case we didn’t. But we did.”

The Irish girls won because Davis stepped up. Davis is typically team’s No. 6 runner. Without Davis, St. V-M likely would have finished no better than fourth.

“We told the girls that they needed to write their own chapter,” said 18-year Irish coach Dan Lancianese. “The nice part about this one was the feature of being on a new (state) course. They could stake their claim to something brand new. This was their identity. This is what I wanted to leave them with, especially the seniors.

“We discussed the plan of action. We’re always talking about the team concept in knowing they have to stay tight as much as possible. We didn’t focus on anyone. The only thing we knew for certain was the yellow, so stay with yellow.”

FOR COMPLETE OHSAA DIV. II BOYS RESULTS, Click HERE

Senior Patrick O’Brien finished eighth for the St. V-M boys in 16:10.28, but otherwise things weren’t so good.

Springfield Shawnee put its top five across with an 81-second spread. The Irish matched it with a 78-second spread, but Shawnee’s average 5K time was 16:45.44 versus 16:50.51 for St. V-M.

“We’re not going to say ‘would have, could have, should have,’” said O’Brien. “We’re going to hold our heads high. We’re going to be proud of what we accomplished. We worked hard. We deserved what we get. We would have liked better, but it didn’t happen.”

Saturday was the first time the two teams met this season. Last year, Shawnee finished 14th at state.

“I think they see that the girls have won three straight and they can’t seem to get over the hurdle,” said Lancianese. “It’s that one thing they have to try and push through. When you’re coaching co-ed they put little pressures on each other. It’s part of the sport. It’s human nature, especially for a guy.

“They don’t count the runners-up at that school (St. Vincent-St. Mary). Friends of the school here at the meet thought we should be happier. I told them that we set the bar high. We’ve been trying to break this beast for three years. We can’t seem to quite get over the hurdle. We’ve been runner-up four times, third twice and seventh twice. I could tell in the first 800 meters today that today wasn’t our day. We were playing ‘chase’ the whole way.”

Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy was third with 125. Woodridge’s string of five straight Division II titles was snapped as the Bulldogs finished fourth with 133 points. Woodridge senior Drake Sulzer was fourth (15:54.85). Buckeye junior Ryan Gallagher bounced back from a seventh-place regional finish to take sixth (15:59.75).

CVCA freshman Samantha Bockhoven was second in the Division II girls race (18:28.50). Only London sophomore Sarra Taylor was better (18:19.14).

“I was leading to about the last quarter to half mile and she (Taylor) took off,” said Bockhoven. “I was very tired. I gave it all I could.”