MEDINA, Ohio -- It was a silver Saturday for Double-R XC, as the Rocky River boys and girls teams each registered runner-up finishes in the Great Lakes Conference Preview run Saturday at Buckeye Local Schools Cross Country Course. [results]

The boys team clocked in with 71 points, a score bested by just the Bay Rockets in a field of 11 teams. The River girls (56 points) were second to Westlake (21) in a field of nine teams.

The Pirate boys were led by junior Ben Buehrle, who filed a time of 17:17.1 on what was a fast track with a downhill finish. Buehrle placed eighth and was one of four Rocky River runners (Ethan Hazra, Simon Baum, Owen Walsh) carding top-15 finishes  in a field of 173 athletes. Hazra, Baum, and Walsh finished 12-13-14 in a pack.

The River girls boasted a pair of top-10 finishes (Brianna Chaves-third, Katie Stirm-eighth) in a race that saw all five Pirate scorers cross the wire in the top-20. But a veteran Westlake troop had athletes place first (Sarah Peer) and second (Ellie Irwin) and then 5-6-7 to post the 21-point score.

Saturday's meet was the 12-team circuit's annual early look at how things lay before September's invitational races play out.

Both Rocky River teams earned GLC titles last fall. In seven years of GLC history, Pirate teams have never finished below second place in the championship meet, usually held in early October. The girls team has won four championships while logging three runner-up finishes; the boys have earned three titles and four seconds. The 2021 season marked the first Rocky River sweep in the meet and the second twin-win performance by a league member (Bay-2019).


by Skip Snow

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