OBETZ, Ohio (Aug. 19, 2023) -- The Rocky River Boys and Girls Cross Country teams want to end their seasons Nov. 4 at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, Ohio. They want to be among the best runners and teams in Ohio on the state's championship course in the state's championship meet.
The Pirates don't just want to get there. They want to get
back there. Because on Saturday they had a chance to compete there and they know they can run quite well there.
On Saturday, River's teams competed at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Early Season Invitational at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park. The Rocky River boys took third in a field of 41 DI teams. The Pirate girls took seventh a field of 38 DI squads.
In the DI boys competition, the River Raiders registered five top-70 finishes. Seniors Granto Preto and Ruairi Zeurcher led the way, clocking finishes of 23rd and 25th, respectively. Henry Lange took 43rd. Ben Buehrle placed 58th, Owen Walsh finished 63rd. The Buccaneers' average time was 16:58. Only Columbus Worthington Kilbourne (117 points) and Amherst Steele (184) topped Rocky River in the standings.
On the girls side, three Rocky River runners finished with top-40 times. Senior Brianna Chavez, who last fall finished 16th at the DI Ohio Championships (Nov. 5), led the way with an 11th-place finish. The senior speedster crossed the wire in 19 minutes-and-11.9 seconds. Juniors Katie Stirm and Crage Lavelle took 33rd and 34th, respectively. River tallied a team score of 227. The average Pirate time was 20:21; the Double-R finished one spot behind follow Great Lakes Conference foe Westlake (193). Cincinnati Mason (124) edged Cincinnati Lakota West (127) for the DI girls crown.
The 2023 River girls team includes a solid returning contingent of runners that helped propel the team to a
13th place finish at last year's state meet.
The Pirates will continue their season Aug. 26 at Cahoon Park in Bay Village, when they line up against the other teams in the conference in the 2023 GLC Preview.