Boardman’s White finishes 2nd; McDonald boys and girls shine at Spartan Invitational
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BOARDMAN -- The running rivals were at it again.
The McDonald and Maplewood boys and girls cross country programs both took top-six finishes on Saturday. But they both had first-place finishers as the McDonald girls and Maplewood boys both won their respective Division III and IV races at the 41st Spartan Invitational.
McDonald and Maplewood were the only local teams to win their respective races.
The Blue Devils took the Division IV girls race with 95 points. Kirtland was the runner-up with 121, and the Rockets were fourth with 139.
Naomi Sheesley set the tone by winning the first varsity race of the day with a time of 18:38.1. Addison Callow crossed at 20:09.4 for eight place, Selah Sheesley came in at 20:54.7 for 21st, Noelle Lytle ended in 30th with a 21:14.4 and Ava Binder rounded out the Blue Devils' scorers with a 21:33.4 for 35th.
"The girls are in a really good place," McDonald head coach Robin Kapalko said. "They're very focused, very dedicated, they show up every morning or afternoon since we started school. They have a lot of pride. There's a lot of tradition at McDonald, so they strive to live up to those expectations."
Melody Richards ran 19:58.6 as she came in sixth for the Rockets, and teammate Avery Davison took 20th with a 20:54.4.
The Maplewood boys posted 67 points as the winner. It was 70 points ahead of runner-up Independence.
Maplewood did well as its runners group together toward the top of the pack. Nick Blair was the top Rocket (17:14.5) in eighth, Micah Sparks (17:16.2) was right behind in ninth, Tyler McPeak (17:30.1) ended in 14th, Ethan Nevinski (17:35.0) came in 16th and Brody Orr was the last official scorer for Maplewood, running a 17:46.0 and finishing in 20th.
"Boardman's a big course, because it's what gets you to state. It's an important course," Maplewood head coach David Deeter said. "It's a difficult course because it is hilly, which we like. We train for this course because all the other courses are fairly flat. That's easy to run on, but this one, you have to be ready for."
McDonald came in sixth in the boys race with a 254. Owen Cappuzzello was the individual runner-up with a 16:05.1, and Landen Scott also finished in the top 20 as he came in 15th with a 17:34.0.
BOYS
Kenston won the Division II race with a 63. Salem took sixth with 197, Boardman got eighth with 269, Canfield finished in 17 with 471 and Fitch was 28th with 735.
Boardman's Dylan White was the top local runner in D-II. He ran 16:09.7 on his way to being the runner-up behind Hoover's Samuel Baker (16:08.5). Canfield's Alex Taranto was 10th after running 16:43.3, and Salem's Luke Stephens was the only other top-20 time with a 16:46.4, which got him 12th.
In Division III, Woodridge scored an 88 to win.
Hubbard (348) was the top local team, finishing in seventh. West Branch (377) ended in 10th, Girard (529) came in 20th, Champion (625) was 25th, Lakeview (669) finished 28th, Ursuline (788) was 33rd and Struthers (1,114) came in 34th.
Hubbard freshman TJ Arci was the only top-20 finisher with a time of 17:34.7.
In addition to Maplewood and McDonald, there were several local squads that competed in Division IV.
Columbiana (256) was seventh, South Range (314) ended the day in ninth, Springfield (373) finished 13th, Grand Valley (464) wasn't too far behind in 16th and 17th, 18th and 19th were Lowellville (474), Mineral Ridge (514) and Valley Christian (714), respectively.
Grand Valley's Sam Steimle ran 16:37.8, which earned him third. South Range's Ryan Fieldhouse clocked a 17:04.3 as he finished fifth, Mineral Ridge got a sixth-place finish out of Bryce Garland when he ran 17:06.2 and Lowellville's Jesse Coon was 19th with a 17:44.0 to round up the top 20.
GIRLS
Aurora emerged the winner in the Division II race with 107 points.
Boardman was the top local program after posting 179 points and a sixth-place finish. Salem (230) came in eighth and Canfield (484) was 17th.
Salem and Boardman both had two top-20 runners. Salem's Addison Hopple came in fourth with an 18:45.6 and Emily Sinsley ran 20:26.6 for 18th. Boardman's Olivia Brady recorded a 19:06.9 as she finished sixth and teammate Kealia Bravo came in 20th with a 20:29.6. Canfield's top runner was Sabrina Baskett, who ran 20:04.5 and ended in 13th.
The Mahoning Valley didn't have any local teams finish in the top 10 in Division III, but there were a few solid individual performances.
Ursuline's Addison Ring was the top local with a 20:55.6, which was good for 18th. Lakeview's Paige Schwartz came in 22nd with a 21:04.0, and West Branch's Tenley Stitle ran 21:17.3 as she finished 27th.
McDonald and Maplewood aside in Division IV, the area also had Springfield (402) come in 14th, Columbiana (403) end in 15th and Badger (510) end in 18th.
The only top-20 time from a non-Rocket or Blue Devil came from Liberty's Anani Lawerance. She came in 19th with a 20:53.6.