In the 26th Annual Cardinal Invitational, many local runners made their mark on a perfect Fall morning.
Cross country photos click here.
In the 26th Annual Cardinal Invitational, many local runners made their mark on a perfect Fall morning.
Leading the way were Chardon’s Rae Kawalec and sophomore Briella Hewitt. Kawalec finished with a time of 19:42, and Hewitt finished at 20:47, claiming first and second spots.
The Hilltoppers also finished first as a team, with Cate Dawson, Addison Andrews, Lydia Emerine, and Mira Palombo representing.
“Our race went well,” Hewitt said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but the course was flat and we ran together, and it was good.”
“We just try to build off of each other and build each other up, is something that we have been working on,” Kawalec said.
Riverside finished second as a team, followed by Orange and then Kirtland. Leading the way for Kirtland were junior Sylvia Vosicky and sophomore Izzie Copeland.
The Huskies finished seventh; senior Lily Ayer led the pack with a time of 22:18. Coming in shortly behind her was sophomore Eve Kaminski.
“I was pretty happy with my results,” said Ayer, who has made her mark on the program throughout her four years, after a long history of family success. “We did very well as a team, and we are working on running closer in groups, which will help us with our scores.”
“We all did really well as a team and we were all super close,” Kaminski said.
West Geauga was led by freshman Lia Alvord and senior Taylor Deets. Berkshire had Cali Wizy finish with a time of 23:23.
On the boys’ side, it was West Geauga’s Matt Dienes who finished in first place with a time of 16:23. In his last three races, Dienes has won every one.
“I was very happy with my results,” Dienes said. “I was coming in, expecting first place, just because I had the confidence from winning the last two races. I ran a good time today.
“As a team, we had a freshman and a sophomore teammate both running high school cross country for the first time, and they finished in the top 10, and I could not be happier about that.”
The Wolverines finished third as a team behind South Range and Orange.
Chagrin Falls’ Zach Huey finished with a time of 17:49, leading the way for the Tigers, while the Badgers had Isaac Burden and Owen Zaumeyer finish first and second for their team.
Burden talked about what he and his teammates focused on this week at practice to prepare for the invitational.
“The first 200 meters we were pacing and getting into a rhythm, and then after that, we would do a speed all-out just to feel like the end of a race,” he said. “With the pace, you had someone in front of you and you’re trying to beat them, and then you’re trying to finish and keep going until the end.”
Cardinal was led by sophomore Sam Gdovichin, who finished with a team-best 18:05, while teammate Oliver Kumher finished 19:16. Grayson Yoder, Vincent Dragolich, Matthew Dalpiaz and William Graham all represented the home team well.
Cardinal will next host the CVC Championship Oct. 14 at 10:50 a.m.
