MENTOR, Ohio -- Rocky River competed in the Mentor Cardinal Classic on Saturday, and the Pirates posted big performances, taking fourth in the boys' competition and sixth in the girls'. [results:
boys |
girls]
Greg Ganor paced a tightly-grouped River contingent on the boys' side. Ganor placed 19th of 210 runners when he crossed the wire in 16:56.08. The balance of the Pirate scoring five were less than 30 behind, and all five (Ganor, Luke Dorenkott, Grant Preto, Ruairi Zuercher, Henry Lange) logged top-50 finishes.
Rocky River had an average time a shade under 17:15 on its way to hoisting a team total of 161. Medina (90 points) clipped host Mentor (101) in the big-field (26-teams) event at Garfield Park. The victory marked the Bees' fourth in the Cardinal Classic since 2015.
Samantha Coleman and Brianna Chaves ran big races in propelling the Pirate girls to a sixth-place finish in a field of 24 teams. Coleman bolted over the course in 18:53.58 to finish as the meet runner-up; Chaves carded a 15th-place finish with a time of 19:53.29. The balance of River's scoring quintet was comprised of Katie Stirm, Carolyn Wanosik, and Allie Dewey.
Medina (63) points won the girls' meet, edging Brunswick (68) for the top spot. The River girls scored 158 points.
The first Double-R meet in September was another example the the Pirates' double-barrel burst of talented youth in both programs. Of the combined 10 scoring runners, seven were underclassmen.
CANNON FIRE ...
JV-OPEN RESULTS: Rocky River registered a second-place finish in the 23-team boys' JV-open race. Ben Buehrle took fourth and was one of five top-20 finishers wearing River maroon and white. The Buccaneer girls took fifth in a field of 17. They were led by the fourth-place finish of Julia Mafrici.
DID YOU KNOW?: River runners have captured a combined three individual titles at the Cardinal Classic which celebrated its 49th running on Saturday. On the boys' side, Gavin O'Neil took first in 1992, and Bill Huffman won in 1996. Caroline Sanker triumphed in the girls' race in 2004.
by Skip Snow