The opening weekend of the 2026 cross country season offered an early glimpse at just how much talent is spread across the Chagrin Valley Conference.
CVC runners collected two race victories, several top-five finishes and a lengthy list of top-20 performances Saturday at the HOKA Night XC Showcase in Geneva and the Solon Party at the Polo Fields in Moreland Hills.
West Geauga’s Ian Res produced the fastest performance of the weekend among CVC boys, while Lutheran West’s Jackson Heisner also earned an individual victory. On the girls’ side, Chagrin Falls’ Gabby Byrne came within one place of a win and Berkshire freshman Claire Passow made an impressive early-season statement.
HOKA Night XC Showcase
Boys — CVC Top-20 Finishers
Res wasted no time establishing himself as one of the runners to watch this fall.
The West Geauga senior won the Boys Black race in 15:33.91, finishing more than 24 seconds ahead of Chagrin Falls senior Kelan Byrne, who placed second in 15:58.51.
Chagrin Falls packed four runners into the first 13 places. Freshman Jameson Byrne finished fourth in 17:00.07, junior TJ Mitchell was ninth in 17:04.87, and junior Michael Hanley placed 13th in 17:10.66.
West Geauga added Mason Starr in 11th at 17:07.38 and Joey Lubanovich in 17th at 17:22.70. Geneva sophomore John D’Alessandro rounded out the CVC’s top-20 contingent in the race with a 19th-place finish in 17:24.72.
Lutheran West dominated the CVC presence near the front of the Boys Blue race.
Heisner won in 17:23.10, and junior Jacob Vonhof finished third in 17:48.16. Sophomore Mark Disch crossed sixth in 18:36.25, while junior Braylon Johnson placed 15th in 18:54.81.
The Boys Gold race produced four more top-20 CVC performances. Conneaut junior Ethan VanNorman led that group with a sixth-place finish in 16:33.69.
Independence junior Mitchell Creel was 10th in 16:40.85, Orange junior Griffin Berlin finished 12th in 16:42.67, and Jefferson junior Cody Weber followed in 13th at 16:44.04.
Berkshire put two runners in the top 10 of the Boys Open race. Senior Davin Harper placed third in 18:46.73, and sophomore Alex Sustin finished 10th in 19:01.17.
Girls — CVC Top-20 Finishers
Byrne provided the CVC’s top girls finish at HOKA.
The Chagrin Falls junior finished second in the Girls Black race in 18:59.78.
Fairview junior Emily Dahler placed eighth in 20:15.21, and Chagrin Falls sophomore Lindsay Fisher was 10th in 20:23.35.
Perry junior Hazel Kananen gave the CVC a fourth top-20 finisher in the race by placing 20th in 21:01.87.
Six CVC runners cracked the top 20 in the Girls Blue race.
Lutheran West freshman Hannah Mueller led the group in third place with a time of 20:38.06. Geneva freshman Adriana Belconis finished fifth in 21:02.12, and Independence sophomore Leah Creel was sixth in 21:23.12.
Kirtland freshman Mila Delgado finished 16th in 22:29.78, Geneva junior Paytton Lemponen was 17th in 22:31.88, and Independence sophomore Lucy Lu followed in 18th at 22:31.96.
Passow made her high school debut a memorable one in the Girls Gold race.
The Berkshire freshman finished fifth in 19:30.03, just ahead of Kirtland junior Kylie Sayle, who placed seventh in 19:32.27.
Conneaut junior Vivianna Cellini finished 12th in 19:55.42, and Orange junior Marina Campbell crossed 13th in 19:56.20, giving the CVC four top-13 finishers in the race.
Berkshire freshman Hadley Franks added another top-20 result in the Girls Open race, placing 15th in 23:13.50.
Solon Party at the Polo Fields
Boys — CVC Top-20 Finishers
Wickliffe’s Caleb Wallace turned in one of the strongest performances of the meet.
Wallace finished fourth overall in 16:46.9, making him the lone runner from a CVC school to crack the boys’ top 20 at the meet.
Beachwood finished seventh in the team standings with 184 points, while Wickliffe competed without a complete scoring team.
Girls — CVC Top-20 Finishers
Beachwood junior Meena Abdul-Basser led the CVC girls at the Polo Fields.
Abdul-Basser finished 16th overall with a time of 21:08.0. She was the only runner from a CVC school to finish among the top 20 in the girls’ race.
Beachwood and Wickliffe both competed without complete scoring teams.
The first major weekend of competition already produced several notable benchmarks for CVC runners.
Res’ 15:33.91 and Kelan Byrne’s 15:58.51 immediately established a pair of sub-16-minute marks on the boys’ side, while Gabby Byrne, Passow, Sayle, Cellini and Campbell all broke 20 minutes in their respective girls’ races.
With conference competition and another full slate of invitationals ahead, those early performances have set the bar for what could become a fast 2026 season.
