McDonald girls dominate at Suburban League meet
Sheesley wins girls crown for Blue Devils; Klase gets top honors in boys race
GIRARD — Year after year, the McDonald girls cross country team aims to be one of the area’s top squads, and this year is no different.
After winning at the Oscar Grant Invitational last week, the Blue Devils continued their early season success by taking the individual and team titles at Tuesday’s Suburban League meet at Liberty Park in Girard.
“I tell the girls that it’s a process all season long,” McDonald head coach Robin Kapalko said. “It’s nice to come and win on Tuesdays and win some invitationals here or there, but we’re looking at the bigger picture. Obviously the goal is for postseason — to make it to state and perform well at state. These are just little stepping stones along the way.”
The Blue Devils dominated the field, with each of their top-finishers placing in the top-seven. McDonald took first, second, third, fifth and seventh place to finish with 18 points. Hosts Girard was the second-place team with 74 points, while Canfield took third with 88 points.
Fresh off a runner-up finish a week ago, McDonald freshman Naomi Sheesley took top honors on Tuesday, followed by senior Kylie Flere in second and sophomore Selah Sheesley, Naomi’s sister, in third.
Sheesley and Flere took the lead right out of the starting line and pulled away from the field throughout the rest of the race.
“(Naomi) has had a couple of really nice races. She’s new at this, but she’s fantastic. She’s super talented, but she’s still learning what her limits are. This is only really her third 5k race. She’s still trying to figure it out — that she has a lot more in the tank,” Kapalko said. “Kylie has a super work ethic, and she’s a great team leader. She doesn’t say a whole lot, but she shows by example. She’s a hard worker, she pushes herself and she sets the bar.
Juliana Krumpak came in fifth for the Blue Devils, while Rita Domitrovich was seventh and Brooke Boscheff was eighth. Gracie Callow was 10th for McDonald.
“We had some good times today,” Kapalko said. “We were just going through the motions, kind of a workout. … I just have a really good team. I only lost one senior from last year. They’ve been really dedicated and they’ve worked hard all summer. So hopefully we can get to state and perform at state.”
Ursuline’s Arianna Flauto (fourth), Girard’s Maddy Gassman (sixth) and Warren JFK’s Annie Phillips were the only non-McDonald finishers in the top-10.
McDonald now has its sights set on a meet at Walsh Jesuit on Saturday, where the Blue Devils will get the chance to race against some of the other top teams in northeast Ohio.
“That’s usually a good beat, lots of good competition,” Kapalko said. “The weather has cooperated. The course should be fast, and it’s kind of flat, so we’re hoping for some PRs. That would be a great confidence boost to keep us motivated and driven to get to the next goal.”
KLASE ON TOP
The boys race on Tuesday turned out much like the girls race — with a Blue Devil coming out on top.
Despite sitting in second after the first lap around the course, McDonald’s Carson Klase made his move on the second lap to win the boys Suburban League race at Girard.
LaBrae’s Wyatt Brundage led the field after one lap, but Klase was just biding his time. He kept pace with Brundage, pulled even with him on the second lap and eventually pulled away down the stretch. Brundage ended up taking third, while Lowellville’s Nathan Yon was the runner-up finisher.
“The course here is two loops, so I just split it into two different loops,” Klase said. “I stayed relaxed on the first loop and decided to make a move on the second loop. … You just have to sense weakness in your opponents. You can tell a good moment to just put in on them, and usually they’ll fold pretty quick.”
In addition to his fellow runners, Klase battled toasty evening conditions, in addition to a tough, hilly course at Liberty Park.
“The course is really well taken care of, but it’s tough, for sure,” Klase said. “A lot of elevation changes, tight twists and turns, roots and rocks. It’s definitely not a time trial type of race, not a real fast course, but it’s fun to race on it.”
Canfield was the top team finisher with 45 points, while Klase and the rest of the McDonald boys were second with 55 points. LaBrae was the third-place team with 92 points.
“It definitely builds confidence, knowing that you have that in the bag,” Klase said. “Just knowing that you’re capable of doing it definitely makes it easier to go out there.”
Klase said he and some of his Blue Devils teammates have been dealing with some injuries and ailments this fall, but they’re hoping to get healthy in order to chase a spot at the state meet at the end of the season.
CONSISTENT CANFIELD
As the Canfield boys won the team title on Tuesday, the Cardinals girls came in third.
Cardinals head coach Eric O’Brien’s teams are always competitive each year, and he’s hoping to continue that this season.
“This group is unique. Last few years, we’ve always had one person that’s separated themselves as the leader on the boys side. This year we have a couple different guys that could actually take that No. 1 spot,” O’Brien said. “On the girls’ side, we have a strong group of seniors that came back after getting us to the state meet for the first time in 32 years. We have this group of seniors and they keep pushing each other. They’ve helped the sophomores and freshmen really buy into our culture.”
Isaiah Simms (fifth), Michael Lefoer (eighth) and Nick Marciniak (ninth) were the boys team’s top finishers on Tuesday, while Ryleigh Koren (13th) was the girls team’s highest placer.
After finally breaking through and returning to the state meet last year for the first time since 1992, the Cardinals are hoping to continue to build on their success this season.
“I think every team’s hope is to make the state meet,” O’Brien said. “One thing I did notice last year is that our goal was to make the state meet, but at the state meet, we were kind of flat. They had experienced regionals, but never experienced the state meet. Everything was new. So now the girls know that experience, so they know what to expect. They know how to prepare for it, so that’s going to help them. Now the boys will have to learn from the girls if we’re lucky enough to make the state meet, and hopefully the girls are lucky enough also.”
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