Maplewood boys win D-IV reigonal title
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BOARDMAN -- Before the tiny ghosts and ghouls ran through the streets in Boardman with hopes of bagging sweet treats, high schoolers ran through the campus of Boardman High School.
Boardman was the site of the Northeast regional cross country championships on Saturday, and runners came in with the goal of earning a treat of their own: a trip to the state championships.
Maplewood came away with a pair of awards. The Rockets' boys won the Division IV race, and the girls were the runner-ups in their event.
The Maplewood boys won with 86 points. Micah Sparks got the bronze medal with a time of 16:17.1. Ethan Nevinski finished 14th (17:04.1), Nick Blair was right behind in 15th (17:07.0), Tyler McPeak came in 24th (17:20.5) and Josh Suba was the final official score as he came in 32nd (17:36.3).
"(A regional title) means a lot to them, because a lot of our alumni were here watching them," Maplewood boys coach David Deeter said of his runners. "They know that they are watched, and it gives them an opportunity to add to the (program's) legacy."
The girls had 96 points, with Rittman winning Division IV with 64 points. Melody Richards came in ninth (19:42.7). Mackenzie Edgar (20:21.2), Kenley Kitzmiller (20:27.3), Avery Davison (20:33.9) and Addison Calvert (20:37.2) finished 21st, 23rd, 24th and 27th in that order.
"It's now three out of four years that we've gotten second. I don't think we've ever done that on the girls' side," Maplewood girls coach Michael Richards. "We're always trying to catch the boys, they do so well. The girls, last week, got second to Kirtland. And our goal was, 'Let's try to get a trophy here at regionals and steal that from Kirtland.' And that's what we did today."
McDonald had a pair of individual region winners. Owen Cappuzzello won D-IV with a time of 15:48.2 and Naomi Sheesley took the girls' race with an 18:20.6. Cappuzzello will advance as an individual next week.
Sheesley and the female Blue Devils also moved on after taking fourth with 136 points. Addison Callow came in 22nd (20:24.5), Selah Sheesley was 28th (20:38.6), Noelle Lytle took 43rd (21:11.9) and Mary Jasso crossed in 58th (22:08.2).
"My sister's a senior, so being able to run another week with her, it's just great," Naomi Sheesley said. "This team, it's just really close. So it's great knowing that we can run with them for another week."
The Spartans got the first local achievement of the day in the girls Division II race.
Boardman’s girls finished eighth with 326 points to earn one of the team qualifying spots. When they take the course on Saturday, it will mark the first time in program history that they reached state in back-to-back seasons.
Olivia Brady led the Spartans with a time of 18:42.5, which was good enough for seventh. Kealia Bravo came in 42nd (19:56.9), Haley Bero took 64th (20:11.8), Mia Duble was 109th (20:51.0) and Moriah Doyle and Jordyn Lacivita finished 120th and 121st, respectively with 21:01.0 and 22:01.03.
"This is the first time in school history that we've gone back to back at the state meet as a team. Ever. In the 43 years, I think, that we've had a girls cross country team, this is the first time it's ever happened," Boardman girls coach Luke Gidorkis said. "It's amazing to be part of history."
On the boys' side of D-II, Salem also qualified as a team with an eighth-place finish. The Quakers posted 297 points.
Colton Hall and Luke Stephens took 31st and 32nd, respectively, with times of 16:31.5 and 16:31.7. Taven Tice earned 60th (16:52.7), Alex Rea got 91st (17:13.7) and Sam Yakubek was 97th (17:16.6).
The Quakers girls also punched their ticket to Columbus. They finished with 173 points.
Addison Hopple led the way with a 19:22.8, a 10th-place time. Liliana Pimentel-Alexander crossed in 20th (19:57.2), Emily Sinsley took 40th (20:32.0), Chaya Murray was 50th (20:50.6) and Cassidy Wallace rounded out the scores with a 58th-place finish (21:08.7).
"The whole goal was, 'run your own race', and they did that perfectly," Salem girls coach Ted Yuhaniak said. "They didn't get caught up looking at any other team, and it worked out."
INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS
The Division II boys race saw Boardman’s Dylan White finish in 18th (16:21.5), Howland’s Ryan Barringer cross in 29th (16:30.7) and Canfield’s Alex Taranto come in 34th (16:33.3).
In the girls Division III race, Garrettsville Garfield’s Lina Kaufman finished fifth (18:57.0), West Branch’s Tenley Stitle came in 24th (20:08.0) and Ursuline’s Addison Ring took 26th (20:09.6).
After the boys' portion of Division III, Garfield narrowly qualified as a team. But the G-Men missed out by one spot.
They will have two runners moving on, however. Owen Thomas was the bronze finisher with a 15:38.7 and Lucas Thomas finished fifth with a 15:42.1.
Hubbard’s TJ Arci and West Branch’s Kyle Orminston also qualified as individuals. Arci took 20th (16:42.4) and Orminston came in 23rd (16:44.3).
The boys Division IV event featured several local qualifiers. In addition to Cappuzello, Grand Valley's Sam Steimle (16:20.5) took fourth, South Range's Ryan Fieldhouse (16:37.9) came in sixth, Lowellville got a pair of qualifiers when Jesse Coon (16:50.6) crossed in eight and Jayden Coon (17:14.1) came in 19th, Badger's Austin Smith (16:56.3) was 11th and Mineral Ridge got a 13th-place finish from Bryce Garland (17:02.2).
Springfield's Alexandria Flumara punched her ticket to Columbus with a 10th-place time of 19:44.2 in the D-IV girls race.