BOARDMAN, Ohio – Rocky River’s Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams competed in regional tournament action on Saturday. The 2020 season came to an end for both squads on the team side, but junior athlete Samantha Coleman has advanced to what marks her third straight Ohio DI Girls’ Cross Country Championship meet.

 

The Pirates took 17^th place in a field of 24 teams in the Boys DI Northeast Ohio Region Tournament. Luke Kishna placed 59^th with a time of 17:46.7 in leading the Rocky River effort. As a team, the Maroon & White carded a score of 400. From 2019 to 2020, the River boys improved by 102 points (from 502 last fall) and six places (23^rd in 2019) in the regional standings.

 

The Rocky River girls placed 14^th in a field of 24 teams in the Girls DI Northeast Ohio Region Tournament. Junior Samantha Coleman led the way for the Pirate girls. Coleman punched a ticket to the state finals by placing 18^th in a field of 183 runners. The three-time Great Lakes Conference champion (2018-20) clocked in at 21:37. Coleman will now head to Fortress Obetz in Obetz, Ohio, for the Ohio Girls’ DI Cross Country Championships on Nov. 7. The fleet-footed River runner placed 93^rd in the state meet as a freshman and 36^th a year ago as a sophomore. Coleman will be one of 177 runners preliminarily scheduled to be in the field at the state meet.

 

In Saturday’s region event held at Boardman High School, the contingent of Pirate runners on the boys’ side was comprised of Kishna, Greg Ganor (82^nd place), Luke Dorenkott (97^th), Seth Williams (121^st), Sam Buehrle (127^th), Isaac Linville (144^th), and Jack Miller (158^th). Representing the Rocky River girls were Coleman, Brianna Chaves (41st), Carolyn Wanosik (66^th), Alison Ritvo (125^th), Saraa Abuzarieh (155^th), Marcella Pfaff (158^th), and Ella Rochester (173^rd).

 

The Hudson Explorers swept Saturday’s event which included 20 teams on each side. Hudson edged Kenston by just two points (143 to 145) in the girls’ competition. Mentor’s Savannah Dennison won the girls’ race, crossing the wire just three-tenths-of-a-second ahead of Green’s Olivia Gang. On the boys’ side, Uniontown Lake senior Nathan Moore won the region title, clocking in with a time of 16:26.2.

 

 

by Skip Snow

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