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McDonald girls triumph; Badger freshman is first

CANFIELD – Badger freshman Miranda Stanhope just wanted to stay with McDonald junior Malina Mitchell in the first mile.

Stanhope kept her distance until she saw her opening after the second mile.

“I really wanted to stay with her, because she’s a smart runner and she’s had some good races,” Stanhope said. “I was trying to pace myself with her. Then, eventually I wanted to pass her in the end and have a stronger finish than my last race.”

In passing Mitchell, she passed someone who was victorious in last four Suburban League championship races. The McDonald junior won this race dating all the way back to her seventh-grade season.

Tuesday, the crown belonged to Stanhope.

According to oh.milesplit.com, Stanhope ranks fifth in the state among this year’s Division III female runners. The Braves distance runner kept around a 6-minute pace and finished with a career-best time of 18:43.5 – almost 30 seconds faster than her time from Saturday’s Division III girls race at the Spartan Invitational where she placed third.

“Even though I didn’t win, I still had a pretty solid race,” said Mitchell, who ran 19:17.7. “I can’t beat myself up over that. The Badger girl is very legit. She’s going to be at the top of the state.”

Mitchell topped the McDonald runners to help the Blue Devils win the team title over Canfield at the Canfield Fairgrounds, 47-91. Lakeview took third with 121.

The last time McDonald won the Suburban League title was 2014, the year the Blue Devils won the Division III state title.

“That’s what we need as a team,” McDonald coach Mike Richards said of Mitchell’s performance on Tuesday. “We don’t need her winning state as an individual. We need her running as a solid first girl for us.

“I think she understands that, but it’s tough, too.”

This season was thought to be a bit of a rebuilding one with McDonald graduating a senior class instrumental in bringing home that 2014 championship.

However, freshmen Anna Guerra, who placed third Tuesday, and Sela Jones, who placed 11th are the team’s two and three runners.

“I knew it was going to be a rough year losing Brenna (Rupe) and Heidi (Hoffman),” Mitchell said. “That was a great class we had graduate. They (freshmen) stepped in so well. They’re filling their shoes. They’re doing awesome.

“I’m really excited for all of them.”

Richards said Alyssa Lynch had her best race of the season, while Claire Hoffman is running consistently. Both are juniors.

“That was the best part of the race, seeing them move up, have consistent races,” Richards said.

Freshmen Bella Wolford and Grace Kawecki round out the top seven for McDonald.

As for Stanhope, she didn’t expect this kind of start to her freshman season, especially after converting to a 3.1-mile race. She ran 2 miles in junior high.

Stanhope expected not to place as high as she did her eighth-grade season. So far, she’s not seen any drop-off from last year.

“I can feel a difference every time,” she said of the distance in races. “Not so much this race. I felt pretty good the whole race. A lot of the earlier ones when I hit the two mile I felt I should be done, but I still had another mile left.”

All she did Tuesday was keep pace with Mitchell.

“She’s probably the main person I’ll be running with because she’s out in a lot of our meets,” Stanhope said. ” She’s had really good times in past seasons. She’s doing very well.

“She’ll have a big impact on my running.”

Both runners will learn from one another.

“I think that competition in the long run is going to make us both better,” Mitchell said. “Even though I didn’t win a Suburban League meet, in the long run by the end of the season, it’s going to help.”

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