Cuyahoga Heights junior Darien Tillett raced to a seventh-place finish in the Division III race at the Boardman Spartan Invitational on Saturday.
Tillett finished the race in 17:11.
“I was confident going into this race,” Tillett said. “I love the course and I knew what I needed to do. This was a great test to see where I will be at for regionals, so I wanted to go out and put a lot out there. I knew going in I had to stick with the top pack and pace myself smart. I could have pushed a little harder in some areas but I know now where I need to be once regionals comes around. I’m happy with my performance as well as my team’s. I’m excited to see what we have in store for the rest of this season.”
Cuyahoga Heights placed 21st as a team.
Juniors Devon Patel (74th, 19:12) also finished among the top 150 for the Redskins.
Other Chagrin Valley Conference runners earning a spot in the top 150 included Trinity’s Stephen Gudz (58th, 18:50) and Clifford Kelley (67th, 19:06), Independence’s P.J. Oschmann (96th, 19:29) and Collin Patton (108th, 19:36) and Berkshire’s Robert O’Conke (130th, 19:59), Sam Chrzan (148th, 20:21) and Caleb Klem (150th, 20:23).
Cardinal’s Trevor Bachna ran a time of 20:42 to finish 164th.
Independence’s Emily Skoczen was the CVC’s top finisher in the girls’ Division III race. She placed 18th overall with a time of 21:33. She placed 23rd in 22:07 last fall.
“I’m always looking to improve upon my place and time from the previous year, so I was super happy with how I placed this year,” Skoczen said. “It was nice to see how I placed against the girls I will see at the district and regional meets also.”
Berkshire’s Madison Romask, Kirtland’s Reilly Greenlee and Independence’s Makenna McGhee also finished among the top 50 to earn a Nike bag.
Romask placed 30th with her time of 22:09.
“I was satisfied with my time for such a hot day and the hills on the course,” Romask said. “My time was a lot faster than last year, which is nice to see.”
Romask is familiar with many of the runners who finished near the front of the pack and she stuck with them throughout the race.
“It’s always really important to race and try to be as close to the front as possible, but as the season goes on it gets even more important,” she said. “Seeing the same girls each race is good motivation to try and pass a new one each race.”
Greenlee was 31st with a time of 22:11 and McGhee placed 50th in 23:36.
Other CVC runners to place among the top 50 included Kirtland’s Julie Namciu (51st, 22:39) and Aimee Baldrey (126th, 24:52), Berkshire’s Mariz Przybyla (60th, 22:54), Gabby Adams (64th, 23:04) and Maitland Fuentes (104th, 24:00) and Grand Valley’s Annabell Hlebak (127th, 24:54).
Grand Valley’s John Steimle was the CVC’s top finisher in the boys’ Division II race. He placed 16th overall with a time of 17:13.
“John ran a very strong race today,” Grand Valley coach Kurtis Fisher said. “He is setting himself up for another great postseason. The Boardman meet is always a very good indicator of where you are sitting for the end of the year. He is going to continue to put in some hard work and see how much we can improve.”
Edgewood’s Griffin Obermiyer, Joey Jafarace, Granison Hill, Kurt Corrigan and Nick Branch all placed among the top 150 to lead the Warriors to an 11th place finish as a team.
Obermiyer was 28th in 17:38, Jafarace placed 39th in 17:51 and Hill was 71st with a time of 18:20. Corrigan and Branch finished 104th and 144th, respectively, with times of 18:54 and 19:24.
Grand Valley’s David Steimle (45th, 17:57), Kirtland’s John Sayle (74th, 18:24) and Beachwood’s Gregory Perryman (96th, 18:46) also finished among the top 150.
Edgewood finished seventh as a team in the girls’ Division II race.
Lydia Randolph led the Warriors with a 40th place finish in 21:22. Eve Brunell was close behind as she finished 52nd in 21:57.
The Warriors had six other runners finish among the top 150 including Monica Hamalainen (61st, 22:20), Caroline Nelson (82nd, 22:45), Abbie Metcalf (85th, 22:50), Layce Artman (92nd, 23:00), Alaina Neczeporenko (98th, 23:07) and Lauren Kister (100th, 23:09).
Orange’s Kate Halloran (60th, 22:19) and Trinity’s Christina Ibos (121st, 23:52) and Bonnie Daniels (125th, 23:57) also finished among the top 150.
Harvey’s J.T. Basco was the only CVC runner to finish among the top 150 in the Division I race. He finished 20th overall with a time of 16:44.
