MEDINA, Ohio -- Rocky River ran its way to a boys-girls sweep in Saturday's Great Lakes Conference Championship meet at Buckeye High School. [Results:
boys |
girls]
Three top-10 finishes fueled the victory for the Pirate boys squad which successfully defended its 2020 league crown. The girls' team got four top-10 finishes in snapping a two-year streak of runner-up finishes in the circuit's title meet.
Scoring for the River boys were junior Luke Dorenkott (third place), junior Greg Ganor (fifth), junior Majid Abuaun (ninth), sophomore Ruairi Zuercher (18th), and sophomore Grant Preto (19th). The Pirates earned a team score of 54 points, which was 19 points clear of second-place Westlake (73). Rocky River's score matched its total from a year ago; the GLC title marked the team's third overall (2017, 2020).
The scoring five for the girls were senior Samantha Coleman (second place), freshman Katie Stirm (fifth), sophomore Brianna Chaves (sixth), sophomore Carolyn Wanosik (eighth), and freshman Jane Rathbun (13th). Rocky River clocked a 34-point score, besting runner-up Westlake (60) by 26 points. The Pirate girls have now won four GLC titles since the league was launched in 2015.
Despite posting her best time in four GLC Championship meets, Coleman's runner-up finish snapped a string of three straight individual championships. Westlake's Sarah Peer won the girls' race; Bay senior Michael Muccio captured the boys' crown.
But the colors streaming in behind both were Maroon & White.
Fleet feet. Clean sweep. And two trophies headed to the Corner of Wagar & Detroit.CANNON FIRE ...
DOWN THE LIST: Rocky River took the top five places in Saturday's boys' open race. Junior Isaac Linville took first. On the girls' side, junior Anna Rouphail took third to lead a group of four River top-10s.
TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: Luke Dorenkott posted a final time of 16:23.8 which marked the best for a Pirate boys runner in the GLC meet since Eddie Zuercher crossed the wire (in first place) in 16:19.6 in 2017. Samantha Coleman's time (18:47.2) marked River's best in the event since Anna Brandt's 2016-winning time of 18:19.6.
ONE-TWO PUNCH: In the seven-year history of the Great Lakes Conference -- now a 12-team circuit, Rocky River's teams have never finished below second place. The girls team has won four championships while logging three runner-up finishes; the boys have earned three titles and four seconds. Saturday marked the first Rocky River sweep in the meet and the second twin-win performance by a league member (Bay-2019).
by Skip Snow