BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – Rocky River’s Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams lifted the lid on their respective 2019 campaigns by both placing second in the Great Lakes Conference Preview on Saturday morning. [boys’ results, girls’ results]
Cool conditions greeted the league’s larger fields when they gathered at Cahoon Park in Bay Village for what marked the GLC’s fifth preview meet. The larger fields came courtesy the 2019-20 additions of Buckeye and Fairview, and both the Bucks and Warriors figured prominently in the results.
In the boys’ 5k race, the host Bay Rockets won, scoring 26 team points. The Pirates (72 points) edged Fairview (84) for second place in a nine-team field. All five of River’s scoring runners earned top-25 finishes in a field of 141 athletes.
Junior Luke Kishna was Rocky River’s lead man; he crossed the wire with a fifth-place time of 17.01.2. Kishna – who took eighth in the same race a year ago – was followed on the score sheet by sophomore Sam Buehrle (10th), freshman Greg Gaynor (14th), freshman Luke
Dorenkott (16th) and senior Luke Erml (24th). The Pirates’ average time was a brisk 17:39.8.
On the girls’ side, Rocky River placed second in a field of eight teams (Parma did not register a team score). The Pirates logged an average time of 21:22.5 in posting a score of 45. Bay (25 points) won the girls 5k to pull off the GLC Preview sweep. Buckeye (89) placed third.
Sophomore Samantha Coleman bested 128 competitors to take first in the race. Coleman was one of three top-10 finishers for the Maroon & White – fellow sophomore Ella Russell placed seventh; junior Alison Ritvo carded the 10th spot. River’s other scorers were freshman Meghan Butte (12th) and senior Alex Harris (15th).
Coleman is now 2-for-2 in the GLC Preview. She won as a
freshman a year ago and went on to also take first in the GLC Championship race
in October (Oct. 13).
CANNON FIRE …
TOP RETURNEES SHINE AT CAHOON: The Rocky River girls’ squad includes two First Team All-GLC performers (Samantha Coleman, Ella Russell) and one Second Teamer (Alison Ritvo) from a year ago. The Pirate girls’ team won the 2018 GLC title; the boys finished as league runners-up. The two River squads have taken first or second in each year since the GLC was founded in 2015. … In the GLC Preview, Rocky River defended its 2018 title and has now won four times in five years. The boys’ team has placed second in all five runnings of the league (and season) opener.
NEW FACES’ SHOELACES: On the boys’ side, eight freshmen (Greg Gaynor, Luke Dorenkott, Isaac Linville, Ethan Hazra, Alex Kovacs, Jack Bachna, Elliot Janis, Colin Preto) logged their first high school experience on Saturday. Seven Pirate newcomers (Meghan Butte, Ella Rochester, Iris Polly, Tessa Gray, Kelly Foster, Anna Rouphail, Sadie Nolan) did likewise for the girls’ team.
by Skip Snow
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