Geneva’s and West Geauga’s cross country teams both turned in strong performances at the McDonough Invitational hosted by Villa Angela-St. Joseph on Saturday.
Geneva’s boys’ team finished third in the Red Division while the Eagles placed seventh in the girls’ Red Division.
“Both teams ran very well today,” Geneva coach Emily Long said. “We had three (personal records) today by Brier Streets, Caleb Selman, and Noah Johnson. I was super happy on their placement in the race, especially by the top three individuals in each race.”
Jacob Mirabell led the Eagles with a fifth-place finish in 17:04. Zach Reese and Alex Reese also placed among the top 25 with times of 17:54 and 18:00, respectively. Zach finished 22nd while Alex was 25th.
Geneva’s other top 50 finishers included Jesse McElroy (30th, 18:06), Dakota Harvey (35th, 18:12) and Cole Smith (49th, 18:45).
Elizabeth Joy had a busy day.
She started the morning with the ACT exam then raced over to the course and won the race in 20:39.
Geneva’s Renee Tetlow (8th, 21:32) and Leah Costello (13th, 21:47) also placed among the top 50.
“It feels like we are finally getting in our groove and coming together as a team,” Long said.
West Geauga won the boys’ Blue Division with a score of 49 points. Perry finished seventh, Lutheran West was ninth, Wickliffe placed 11th and Hawken was 12th.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” West Geauga coach John Boylan said. “The top three runners were unavailable on Saturday (due to the ACT). This gave some of the younger runners an opportunity and they all stepped up to the challenge. Led by junior Kenny Kirk, the only upperclassman running, the boys dominated the race. I am so proud of all of their performances.”
Kirk led the Wolverines with a third-place finish in 17:55. Chris Whiting (7th, 18:27), Lorenzo Linek (8th, 18:29), John Mikes (13th, 18:43), Dakota Deets (21st, 19:12), Grant Congdon (22nd, 19:17), and Aidan Murley-Schaffer (23rd, 19:19) also finished among the top 50 for West Geauga.
Other CVC runners to earn a top 50 finish included Hawken’s David Hamilton (5th, 18:20), Lutheran West’s Sam Silva (10th, 18:39), Mike Montie (15th, 18:49) and Elijah Van Farowe (49th, 20:19), Perry’s Daniel Lynch (26th, 19:22), Isaac Balistreri (30th, 19:46), Connor Hull (40th, 19:59), Dillon Hull (44th, 20:07) and James Thomas (50th, 20:20), and Wickliffe’s Robert King (28th, 19:40) and Hayden Smith (29th, 19:41).
Lutheran West led the CVC teams in the girls’ Blue Division with a third-place finish. West Geauga, Perry and Wickliffe placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Top 50 finishers included Lutheran West’s Kristin Groppe (2nd, 20:22), Paris Mather (13th, 22:17), Madi Kiraly (27th, 23:37), Kellie Roach (28th, 23:42), Taylor Warner (44th, 25:29), Abbey Hammer-Huber (47th, 25:29) and Emily Atkins (48th, 25:30), Perry’s Cori Lynch (3rd, 20:47), Addison Renau (17th, 22:38), Julia Bystrom (35th, 24:22), Catie Caldwell (38th, 24:48) and Jennifer Wills (50th, 25:48), West Geauga’s Skye Hackathorn (7th, 21:28), Julia Martinez (8th, 21:39), Emily Vash (26th, 23:35), Julia Mansfield (40th, 25:03) and Emily Berdis (45th, 25:29) and Wickliffe’s Makenna Sladky (19th, 22:59), Tori Stiles (29th, 23:46), Makayla Krotine (34th, 24:18), Lauren Grmek (41st, 25:12) and Emily Krizner (46th, 25:29).
