The Chardon boys cross country team has had a great season, and continued its excellence at the Medina Milt Place Cross Country Festival on Oct 8., finishing seventh of 28 teams in the Division 1 5K race — even with its top runners out.
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The Chardon boys cross country team has had a great season, and continued its excellence at the Medina Milt Place Cross Country Festival on Oct 8., finishing seventh of 28 teams in the Division 1 5K race — even with its top runners out.
In order to provide for rest and an opportunity for others on the team to qualify for the post season, Head Coach Mark Shafer gave his top four runners the day off.
“We were looking for some guys to step up,” Shafer said. “We sat our first four guys trying to figure out who is going to be running in the post season for us.
“So, it was very good to see some guys step up and show what they can do. They ran very well. It was a beautiful day.”
The Hilltoppers also had three runners finish in the top 40.
Finishing in the top spot was Jacob Nieset, who ran 16:40 and finished 21st overall. Following were Josh Calzada (17:00), Matthew Sopchak (17:06), Nathan Eads (17:10), Dylan Snider (17:27), Joseph Payne (17:42) and Gabe Chokshi (18:47).
“We have had a good week and we are looking for even better,” Shafer said. “With the conference coming up next week, we want to run very well there. And in the post season, we would like to get as deep as we can — and do well at state, ideally. So we’re in the right path right now and the guys run well.”
Chardon’s girls cross country team also had an excellent week as it participated in the Legends meet at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds and finished seventh of 17 teams.
The Hilltoppers’ top performer was Rae Kawalec, who ran a 19:39 5K. She was followed by Briella Hewitt (19:41), Giada D’Agostino (20:22), Lydia Emerine (21:02) and Rylie Johnston (21:03).
The Chagrin Falls girls and boys cross country teams also participated in the Milt Place Cross Country Festival and had the second-place finisher in both girls and boys Division 2/3 5K. Finishing in second place in the Girls Division 2/3 race was Mila Gresh.
“Today’s race was great,” Gresh said. “This is a great course. My teammates were all really hyped up for this race, so the energy was just amazing. It was a great finish. My coaches always tell me every jersey counts, so I kept that in mind and I went for it.”
In addition to Gresh the other top five finishers for the Chagrin Falls Girls Cross Country team included, Claire Hoelzel (22:17), MacKenzie Verderber (22:21), Molly Longo (22:25), and Lindsay Schumacher (22:45).
Finishing in second place overall for the Tigers boys team was Jimmy Mooney, who ran the 5K in 17:07. In addition to Mooney, finishing in the teams top five for the Tigers were Jack Kittle (18:22), Frankie O’Brien (19:02), Luke Nelson (19:32) and Casey Verderber (20:51).
The Hilltoppers and Tigers will both next compete Oct. 15 in their conference championships, the WRC and CVC, respectively.
