BOARDMAN — The Spartan Invitational is perhaps the best preview of the Ohio High School Athletic Association cross country postseason.
If the Sept. 19 Spartan Invitational was any indication, the future is very bright for the Greater Akron and Portage County areas.
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In eight varsity races, the Greater Akron and Portage County areas combined for two team titles (the Woodridge boys and Aurora girls) and two individual titles (Crestwood’s Luci Maschek and Aurora’s Audrey Miller).
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Coach Laura Bell said she thought a team title was possible after the Greenmen finished 11th at last year’s Spartan Invitational. Still, she was hardly expecting the trophy, especially without key runner Mia Paech. Well, Bell’s Greenmen won the Division II girls race by a massive margin with 78 points, well ahead of runner-up Westlake (134). The Class of 2029 that sparked the Greenmen’s sixth-place finish at state a year ago had their fingerprints all over their team title at Boardman, from champion Audrey Miller (17:51.19) to the Jenkins twins — Claire (seventh, 19:13.57) and Evelyn (ninth, 19:35.83).
Woodridge, last year’s state champion, was similarly dominant, winning the Division III boys race with 41 points, 133 ahead of runner-up Minerva. The Bulldogs landed four runners in the top 10: junior Remington Griffiths (second, 16:05.57), senior John Brock (third, 16:06.92), junior Eli White (seventh, 16:42.94) and senior Nathan Adams (10th, 16:55.51). They had a sizable margin for error with seven runners — not just their five scorers — in the top 49.
Crestwood’s Maschek may have had the breakout performance of the day, turning in an 18:49.02 to win the Division III girls race by roughly 14 seconds. The freshman helped the Red Devils take third in the team standings, 12 points behind longtime power Woodridge. Maschek adds depth to a Crestwood team that already had seniors (and 2025 state qualifiers) Piper Seibold (sixth, 19.51.62) and Madie Grace Gonczy (seventh, 19:57.23).
While Mogadore didn’t have enough runners to factor into the Division IV girls team standings, senior and two-time state qualifier Kasey Bolyard made her own statement, slashing roughly 45 seconds off last year’s time to finish seventh (19:59.34).
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Division IV girls team scores (20 total teams): 1. McDonald 83; 2. Kirtland 106; 3. Bellaire 110; 4. Maplewood 118; 5. Heritage Classical 195 … 7. Rootstown 241
Division IV top local girls (out of 200 total runners): 7. Kasey Bolyard (Mogadore senior) 19:59.34; 32. Brynn Bird (Rootstown senior) 21:20.09; 37. Cara Crandell (Rootstown junior) 21:36.00
Division IV boys team scores (19 total teams): 1. Maplewood 73; 2. Independence 79; 3. Kidron Central Christian 189; 4. Badger 201; 5. Open Door Christian 202 … 15. Rootstown 327, 18. Mogadore 363
Division IV top local boys (out of 217 total runners): 57. Tycho Smolk (Rootstown senior) 18:58.08; 63. Brayden Dougherty (Rootstown senior) 19:07.36; 64. Thomas McEwen (Mogadore junior) 19:07.99; 69. Scotty Shaffer (Mogadore junior) 19:12.19
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Division III girls team scores (25 total teams): 1. Minerva 59; 2. Woodridge 88; 3. Crestwood 100; 4. Northwest 124; 5. St. Vincent-St. Mary 234 … 8. Field 280; 9. Western Reserve Academy 316; 14. Springfield 362; 17. Streetsboro 461
Division III top local girls (out of 287 total runners): 1. Luci Maschek (Crestwood freshman) 18:49.02; 5. Lola Mullen (Woodridge senior) 19:45.36; 6. Piper Seibold (Crestwood senior) 19:51.62; 7. Madie Grace Gonczy (Crestwood senior) 19:57.23; 13. Julia Rea (STVM senior) 20:39.69; 14. Lillian Singer (Woodridge senior) 20:40.78; 17. Kylie Stewart (Field junior) 20:52.56; 21. Maddie Singer (Woodridge senior) 20:58.75; 31. Alison Church (Field sophomore) 21:19.65; 32. Amiyah Perry (Woodridge senior) 21:21.35; 34. Nora Kunkler (Springfield senior) 21:23.06
Division III boys team scores (34 total teams): 1. Woodridge 41; 2. Minerva 174; 3. Northwest 198; 4. Chagrin Falls 203; 5. St. Clairsville 248 … 11. St. Vincent-St. Mary 371 … 14. Streetsboro 392 … 24. Field 555 … 26. Southeast 628 … 30. Coventry 716
Division III top local boys (out of 387 total runners): 2. Remington Griffiths (Woodridge junior) 16:05.57; 3. John Brock (Woodridge senior) 16:06.92; 7. Eli White (Woodridge junior) 16:42.94; 10. Nathan Adams (Woodridge senior) 16:55.51; 18. Willard Kunkler (Springfield sophomore) 17:17.08; 20. Tyler Souza (Woodridge senior) 17:20.12; 29. Frankie Teston (Woodridge junior) 17:37.62; 36. Marcus Chuba (STVM senior) 17:46.80; 41. Preston Krzeminski (Streetsboro sophomore) 17:56.01; 48. Caden Dillon (Southeast junior) 18:09.03
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Division II girls team scores (28 total teams): 1. Aurora 78; 2. Westlake 134; 3. Bay 149; 4. Shaker Heights 173; 5. Brecksville 182 … 7. Hudson 200 … 10. Tallmadge 261 … 15. Walsh Jesuit 409 … 18. Twinsburg 482 … 20. Firestone 511 … 24. Hoban 678 … 27. Nordonia 819
Division II top local girls (out of 211 total runners): 1. Audrey Miller (Aurora sophomore) 17:51.19; 3. Annalise Costin (Brecksville junior) 18:45.74; 5. Makayla Martuccio (Tallmadge senior) 19:03.03; 7. Claire Jenkins (Aurora sophomore) 19:13.57; 9. Evelyn Jenkins (Aurora sophomore) 19:35.83; 17. Kate Kinast (Hudson sophomore) 20:17.27; 24. Annelies Chase (Brecksville junior) 20:35.81; 25. Gianna Rocco (Twinsburg junior) 20:36.49; 26. Makayla Cicero (Aurora freshman) 20:36.88
Division II boys team scores (31 total teams): 1. Kenston 63; 2. Hoover 68; 3. Shaker Heights 164; 4. Rocky River 183; 5. Perry 195 … 11. Firestone 315; 12. Brecksville 356 … 14. Aurora 433 … 16. Tallmadge 442 … 18. Walsh Jesuit 477 … 20. Twinsburg 512 … 22. Nordonia 527 … 25. Hoban 609 … 29. Roosevelt 906; 30. Ellet 949; 31. Barberton 954
Division II top local boys (out of 235 total runners): 13. Leo Ward (Firestone junior) 16:46.24; 17. Collin Melvin (Nordonia freshman) 16:54.16; 21. Max Gursky (Hoban junior) 17:06.62; 27. Ryan Sweeney (Twinsburg sophomore) 17:12.54; 31. Bryson Durbin (Tallmadge senior) 17:18.18; 32. Logan Sidaway (Brecksville junior) 17:18.83
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Division I girls team scores (five total teams): 1. North Allegheny 40; 2. Stow-Munroe Falls 47; 3. Perrysburg 64; 4. Solon 85; 5. Normandy 126
Division I top local girls (out of 140 total runners): 3. Madelyn O’Brien (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 19:37.99; 4. Lillian Hartenburg (Stow-Munroe Falls sophomore) 20:00.81; 9. Gianna Rucci (Stow-Munroe Falls junior) 20:37.31; 11. Ava Perrotta (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 20:48.72
Division I boys team scores (nine total teams): 1. North Allegheny 47; 2. Perrysburg 63; 3. CVCA 85; 4. Solon 86; 5. Stow-Munroe Falls 94
Division I top local boys (out of 258 total runners): 4. Zac Andamasaris (CVCA junior) 16:38.79; 6. Andrew Clark (CVCA senior) 16:47.18; 9. Isaac Solomon (CVCA senior) 16:59.58; 13. Caleb Decker (Stow-Munroe Falls junior) 17:09.55; 15. Henry Wisniewski (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 17:12.05; 21. Vaughn Hamilton (Stow-Munroe Falls junior) 17:20.04; 22. Seth Hartenburg (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 17:22.79; 23. Kyle Miller (Stow-Munroe Falls junior) 17:26.48
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Contact Jonah L. Rosenblum at jrosenblum@recordpub.com and follow him on Twitter at @JLRSports.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Aurora, Woodridge XC capture team titles at Spartan Invitational
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