For more than half a decade, the McDonough Invitational has been one of the premier cross country events in Ohio.
Mother Nature did not prevent that from happening again this year.
Despite the cool, rainy fall-like weather on Sept. 13, more than 50 schools and 1500 runners participated in Villa Angela-St. Joseph s signature event at Forest Hills Park in East Cleveland.
"It was a full parking lot and I am estimating almost 4500-5000 fans. It is a very well-run event, a notable event and the fact that it is the fourth oldest cross country event in Ohio just adds to the day and why people want to come," VASJ athletic director Nate Zavorek said.
"There is a cross country meet in Boardman, and ours today. We had St. Ignatius, St. Eds, Walsh Jesuit, Orange, Chagrin Falls. It is the premier event this weekend, I think. "
The event has been run since 1960 and the popularity is only gaining after six decades of high quality cross country racing.
"It s the best kept secret at VASJ and it is really amazing how well organized and how well run it is," Zavorek said. "Ken Prince and Chuck Martinko do a great job running the meet. I think they might be ready to pass the torch to us after all these years, but of course we will always go to them with questions. I was blown away again today. They do an unbelievable job with this event.
"And what s nice is our program is getting a resurgence and our runners at VASJ get a taste of what it is like to run against the big teams. We don t want to back down."
Chagrin Falls swept the Blue Division on Sept. 13, winning the boys and girls team meet. Warren Howland won the Red Division for the boys and North Royalton won the Red for the girls.
Results:
Boys team (Blue) 1. Chagrin Falls, 45; 2. University, 66; 3. Wickliffe, 117; 4. Hoban, 123; 5. Western Reserve Academy, 137; 6. Lake Catholic, 154; 7. Padua 198, 8. Benedictine, 245; 9. Orange, 267; 10. Holy Name, 269; Boys individual (Blue) 1. Joe Bistritz, Chagrin Falls, 16:19.15; 2. Jordan Pritchard, Lake Catholic, 16:57.79; 3. J.P. Trojan, University, 17:00.09; 4. Ryan Onders, University, 17:06.87; 5. Jacob Keating, Lake Catholic, 17:31.03; 6. Michael Rose, Chagrin Falls, 17:33.29; 7. John Ganger, Chagrin Falls, 17:39.65; 8. Nick Gannon, University, 17:41.55; 9. Jesse Sidhu, 17:42.41; 10. Joe Brennan, Hoban, 17:49.60; 11. Mitchell Kozik, Hoban, 17:49.60; 12. Jack Spero, Beachwood, 17:59.25; 13. Dany Mylott, Western Reserve Academy, 18:02.96; 14. Jackson Crandall, Chagrin Falls, 18:08.30; 15. Danny Fleming, Padua, 18:14.91 Girls team (Blue) – 1. Chagrin Falls, 31; 2. Padua, 52; 3. Hathaway Brown, 84; 4. Beaumont, 87; 5. Holy Name, 109; 6. West Geauga, 156; 7. Hoban, 186; 8. Fairview, 233; 9. Laurel, 263; 10. Clearview, 311 Girls individual (Blue) – 1. Annie Zimmer, Chagrin Falls, 20:25.47; 2. Gabriela Iademarco, Beaumont, 20:36.16; 3. Anne Moyse, Chagrin Falls, 20:40.97; 4. Natane Deruytter, 20:58.33; 5. Megan Casselberry, Padua, 21:01.46; 6. Jaimie Adams, Padua, 21:10.88; 7. Caroline Millican, Hathaway Brown, 21:17.95; 8. Carly Palgut, Wickliffe, 21:27.40; 9. Laura Kolenz, Holy Name, 21:52.90; 10. Emily Owen, Chagrin Falls, 21:54.96; 11. Ashlynn Uzl, Padua, 21:55.87; 12. Kristen Seballos, Padua, 22:06.85; 13. Lilly Rothschild, Hathaway Brown, 22:16.36; 14. Sophie Richards, Hathaway Brown, 22:20.23; 15. Hailey Lowe, Chagrin Falls, 22:21.04 Boys team (Red) 1. Howland, 26; 2. North Royalton, 55; 3. Lakewood, 74; 4. North, 134; 5. North Olmsted, 154; 6. Lakeside, 175; 7. Mayfield, 180; 8. South, 226; 9. Brush, 245; 10. St. Edward, 265; Boys individual (Red) 1. Ethan Petrilla, Howland, 16:49.07; 2. Alex Jarufe, North Olmsted, 17:29.78; 3. Henry Bish, Lakewood, 17:32.37; 4. Ben Cole, Howland, 17:43.01; 5. Connor Dotson, Howland, 17:45.71; 6. Mihali Sevastakis, North Royalton, 17:46.46; 7. Ethan Neff, Howland, 17:48.76; 8. Dylan Rusek, North Royalton, 17:50.68; 9. Tyler Harigan, Howland, 17:59.55; 10. Jack Petrecca, North, 18:08.16; 11. Michael Hrovat, North Royalton, 18:09.55; 12. Micah Swartz, Lakewood, 18:12.09; 13. Jacob Gregory, Lakewood, 18:18.97; 14. Patrick McKee, North Royalton, 18:20.17; 15. Michael Baio, Brush, 18:20.56 Girls team (Red) – 1. North Royalton, 44; 2. Walsh Jesuit, 50; 3. Magnificat, 92; 4. North Olmsted, 147; 5. Lakewood, 188; 6. Howland, 200; 7. St. Joseph Academy, 203; 8. Mayfield, 207; 9. North, 225; 10. South, 232 Girls individual (Blue) – 1. Alex Kuzma, North Royalton, 19:56.35; 2. Molly Onders, Walsh Jesuit, 20:27.10; 3. Mallory Shaw, Lakewood, 20:30.60; 4. Bina Frost, Magnificat, 20:37.15; 5. Emily Johr, North Olmsted, 20:39.20; 6. Sydnie Schwenk, North, 20:41.32; 7. Anna Martin, North Royalton, 20:43.38; 8. Kelly Brennan, Walsh Jesuit, 20:43.81; 9. Taylor Craigo, Howland, 20:44.30; 10. Bryanna Renuart, Walsh Jesuit, 20:44.65; 11. Kaitlyn Dzuroff, North Royalton, 21:01.63; 12. Emily Butler, North Royalton, 21:08.11; 13. Isabella Kuzma, North Royalton, 21:13.35; 14. Isabelle Horning, Walsh Jesuit, 21:23.36; 15. Maria Wilsman, Mayfield, 21:24.71
