MEDINA–Chagrin Falls and Independence had successful performances on Saturday at the Medina Milt Place Cross Country Festival.
The Chagrin Falls boys’ team finished sixth out of 19 teams behind the strong performance of senior Jimmy Mooney, who finished second overall in the boys’ Division 2/3 5K with a time of 17:07.
“Pretty good race today,” Mooney said. “I went out to the front pretty fast, was leading the whole way until one kid caught me in the woods over there at like two and a quarter. It was good to have someone finally get up to me, like it just pushed me all the way to the end. It was really hard the last mile since I went out so hard the first mile, but it was good though; great day.”
Also finishing in the top 40 for Chagrin Falls were Jack Kittle and Frankie O’Brien. Kittle was 22nd in 18:22, while O’Brien placed 38th in 19:02.
The Chagrin Falls girls’ team also had a strong performance behind the excellent running of junior Mila Gresh, who finished second overall in the girls’ Division 2/3 5K with a time of 19:16.05.
Seven Tigers placed among the top 40 including Claire Hoelzel (22:16), MacKenzie Verderber (22:21), Molly Longo (22:25), Lindsay Shumacher (22:45), Margaret Pease (22:53), and Anna Baker (22:56).
The Independence boys’ and girls’ teams also ran well.
Alana Nowak and Kyle McGovern both finished among the top 40.
Nowak was 27th in the girls’ Division 2/3 race with time of 22:24.
“It was a good race today,” Nowak said. “It was good running weather. It was a new course for all of us who have never been to this meet before so it was a fun experience.”
McGovern placed 25th in the boys’ Division 2/3 race with a time of 18:27.
“It was a great way to finish off the regular season,” McGovern said. “It sets us up pretty well for conference, districts, and beyond.”
Both the Tigers and Blue Devils will compete in Saturday’s Chagrin Valley Conference championships at Cardinal High School.
Full Results
