Northeast Ohio cross country teams and runners earned their spots at the state championships during Saturday’s regional meet at Boardman High School, with multiple divisions crowning qualifiers across eight competitive races.
Division I Girls
Avon captured the Division I girls regional championship with 69 points, defeating runner-up Perrysburg’s 99 points. Kaitlyn Reese led the Eagles with a second-place individual finish in 17:50.1, narrowly losing to Strongsville’s Hannah Jicha by half a second. Avon’s pack strategy proved successful as Ava Melott placed 14th, Madison Colaizzi 15th, Olivia Pajak 16th, Molly Suter 22nd, Julianna Stein 26th and Jessica Pendleton 29th.
Boardman’s Olivia Brady qualified as an individual with a ninth-place finish in 19:13.03.
Division I Boys
Mentor had a strong team showing in Division I boys, led by Matthew Penkowski who placed second with a time of 15:54.68. The Cardinals also had Carter Schaubert seventh, Michael Maynard eighth and Gabe Tulenson 14th in the top 15.
Division II Girls
Rocky River qualified as a team in Division II girls, finishing seventh with 296 points in a field of 39 teams and 332 runners. The Pirates were led by the McCann sisters, with freshman Kara placing 12th in 19:10.3 and sophomore Jane finishing 18th in 19:17.0.
Individual qualifiers from the area included Julia Richards of Westlake (22nd in 19:21.5), Abby Thompson of Olmsted Falls (30th in 19:31.9), Cassidy Valerino of Avon Lake (33rd in 19:37.7) and Lila Woskobunk of Amherst (49th in 20:03.6).
Division II Boys
Kenston won the Division II boys regional championship with 174 points over CVCA’s 193. The Bombers were led by Matthew Collins (18th, 16:29.4), Tyler Cingcade (20th, 16:32.1) and Huck Rundo (30th, 16:42.0).
Other area teams qualifying for state included Boardman (third, 230 points), Hudson (fourth, 244), North Canton Hoover (fifth, 251), Northwest (sixth, 280), Richfield Revere (seventh, 280), University School (eighth, 334), Avon (ninth, 343) and Medina Buckeye (10th, 350).
West Geauga’s Ian Res placed second individually in 15:51.1, narrowly missing first place to Tallmadge’s Donevan Noah.
Division III Girls
Salem qualified as a team with a second-place finish at 123 points, while Marlington took third with 148 points and Chagrin Falls earned the sixth and final team spot with 202 points.
Marlington’s Irelyn Johnson won the Division III girls regional title in 18:29.1. Salem was led by Laura Hovorka (16th, 20:17.3), Liliana Pimentel Alexander (20th, 20:23.3), Cassidy Wallace (21st, 20:23.7) and Addison Hopple (30th, 20:41.2).
Division III Boys
Chagrin Falls qualified for state as a team with a second-place finish of 131 points. The Tigers were led by Kelan Byrne (sixth, 16:09.80), James Marcin (11th, 16:28.18) and Zach Huey (13th, 16:35.60).
Division IV Girls
Kirtland qualified as a team with a third-place finish at 117 points. The top individual finishers included Kaitlyn Carr of Smithville (first, 17:44.9) and Rebecca Geiss of Heartland (second, 18:23.0).
Division IV Boys
Kirtland’s Joey Ciavarelli qualified individually, placing ninth among individuals in 17:29.73 to become the first Kirtland boys runner at state since 1999.
The state championships will take place Saturday, Nov. 1 at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Southeast Columbus. All races will be streamed live on the NFHS Network.
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