BURTON—Kirtland sophomore Lauren Snyder and senior Sydney Snyder both earned a medal at the Berkshire Early Bird Invitational at Kent State’s Geauga Campus on Saturday and several other Hornets turned in strong performances at the team’s season-opening meet.
Lauren Snyder finished 43rd overall with a time of 21:45 while her sister Sydney was right behind her in 46th place with a time of 21:56.
“For the first race of the season I was happy with my top 50 place in a very competitive field, but I know my time could have been better,” said Lauren Snyder, who finished 12th with a time of 21:31 last fall in a less crowded field. “This race has a tricky start, so I learned that I need to get out faster and then hold on as long as I can with the front pack.”
Emily Crebs (24:41), Andrea Frankel (25:26), Zoe Gregory (26:05), Aimee Baldrey (26:10), Ninah Johnson (26:17), Jordan Jontz (26:21) and Holly Samf (26:32) also competed for the Hornets, who finished 15th overall.
“I’m so happy with the turnout this year of runners on the team,” Lauren Snyder said. “It makes everyone work harder and push themselves further.”
Kirtland’s boys’ team finished 18th overall with Konnor Duncan and Jake Grdadolnik turning in impressive performances.
“Konnor and Jake were about a minute faster than last year at this point on the course,” said Kirtland coach JP Moran. “They both have also been training well all summer with Jake doing road races and Konnor attending camps.”
Nick Briggs also dropped over a minute from last year as he finished in 21:31.
Colton Zanko (19:28), Jonny Jackson (22:05), Ian McGreal (22:11), Andrew Schneider (23:36), George Shuppe (23:49) and Kirk Brauer (26:44) also competed for the Hornets.
Kirtland next will compete at the Frank Gibas Invitational at Kenston on Saturday.
