Devils, Tigers and Rockets shine at Suburban League finals
Trending
CANFIELD -- McDonald's Naomi Sheesley and Owen Cappuzzello both claimed Suburban League championships Tuesday.
The pair of Blue Devils got out front early and stayed there, a strategy that proved particularly helpful considering the wet and muddy conditions of the Gorby Family course in Canfield.
"The first lap, I got the easiest around because I was behind nobody, so it wasn't packed down," Sheesley said. "I think the girls overall had a much easier time [as the first race], but the later races are just going to be really tough because it's going to be even worse."
Cappuzzello, who ran in the race after Sheesley and the second of four on the day, said he desperately wanted to get to the front as quickly as possible to avoid "getting mud kicked up in [his] face."
"That just kind of messes with your head," he said. "So that was really the only thing. I knew it was going to run slow, so I kind of just wanted to sit on the lead pack -- if there was one -- and go from there."
By running a 19:59.5, Sheesley, a junior, earned her third Suburban League title. She finished just over a minute ahead of second-place Melody Richards of Maplewood.
A sophomore, Cappuzzello succeeded his older brother, Joey, as the Suburban League champion with a time of 17:41.7. Owen Cappuzzello, who earned 12th place as a freshman, finished 30 seconds ahead of East Liverpool's Christopher Miller and Beaver Local's Luke Warrick.
"I put in a lot of summer miles. And it's not that I didn't do that last year, but I also think I grew a little bit and got a little bit stronger. So I think that was where the jump came in," said Cappuzzello, who ran 11 seconds faster Tuesday than at last year's Suburban League meet. "I've had some strength training with track and everything, and my coaches have put in a lot of time with me."
Of the two winners, Sheesley was less familiar with the Gorby Family course, which hosted the Suburban League championship this year instead of the Canfield Fairgrounds across the street. Sheesley said she had run the course once before, although the conditions Tuesday blunted the usefulness of her previous experience.
"There's no way to compare the first time to this time because it was definitely not this muddy, and it was a way different playing field," Sheesley said. "Going in my second time, I knew the mulch area was tough because it's like it's kind of a weird consistency, but I guess running it once, I had it under my belt so I knew where the curves were, where the turns were, but, I mean, the first time was nothing compared to this one because it was so muddy."
Sheesley was one of three girl Blue Devils to finish in the top five Tuesday; Addison Callow and her older sister, Selah Sheesley, placed third and fifth, respectively. Noelle Lytle and Ava Binder also finished within the top 15, helping McDonald secure the girls team title with 34 points.
Maplewood, which had three top-10 finishers and seven top-25 finishers, placed second with 48 team points, far ahead of Howland (132), Canfield (162) and Lakeview (183).
A 'PACK' OF TIGERS
While Cappuzzello took the individual boys title, Howland again earned the team boys championship.
A year after beating Canfield by 20 points, the Tigers dominated the competition Tuesday with 63 team points, 69 ahead of Badger in second place. Hubbard (159 points), Girard (195) and Columbiana (196) rounded out the top five.
Howland coach Dan Libert credited his team with sticking with their game plan and sticking together during a "sloppy" race.
"We concentrated on talking about pack running," Libert said. "We have four kids that are pretty good, and they packed up front. We had about eight guys 30 seconds behind them. I was very happy to see that. That's what I've been trying to [tell them]: Run with each other; there's power in that pack."
Howland's quartet of juniors -- Ryan Barringer, Michael McGarrity, Riley Schellhorn and Riley Hornbeck -- all finished within 20 seconds of each other and in the top 12, with Barringer leading the way with a sixth-place time of 18:46.7.
Libert, who is retiring, laughed while remarking that he will be leaving the next Tigers coach with a strong team in 2027.
"[We have] a lot of returning kids," Libert said. "Last year, we lost two good seniors. This year, we only have one senior, so most of these kids are all coming back again next year."
YOUNG ROCKETS
Like the Howland boys, the future looks bright for the Maplewood girls.
Perennially a top program in the area, Maplewood delivered a complete team performance in the girls race Tuesday despite having one of the youngest teams on the course.
Of the Rockets' top seven, all of whom finished 23rd or better, only one was an upperclassman, while five were freshmen. The lone sophomore, Melody Richards, placed second individually, and three of her ninth-grade teammates -- Avery Davidson, Addison Calvert and Kenley Kitzmiller -- finished about a minute later, with seconds separated from each other.
"We just came out figuring our legs were going to be heavy from Saturday [at the Spartan Invitational], and really I just told the girls I just wanted to see some guts and see how tough they could get. And I thought they ran well today," Maplewood coach Mike Richards said. "We had some good performances from our young freshmen."
Despite their youth, the mud did not seem to faze the Rockets, whose time spread was among the lowest in the girls race.
Only Canfield, which finished fourth and with many of its runners bunched up in the high 20s and low 30s, were more packed together than the Rockets.
"In the huddle, we just went in with the idea [of] don't even look at the clock, don't worry about times; it's all about place, and it's all about effort. It really is. I told them, actually have fun, enjoy it. These are the races you're going to remember throughout your life."