ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Aug. 26, 2023) -- Rocky River's teams had a busy and successful day Saturday, with both teams competing in the Great Lakes Conference Preview in Bay Village and second girls crew running in the Riverside Kickoff Classic Invitational. [
GLC Preview |
Kickoff Classic]
In the GLC's early-season meet at Cahoon Park, the Pirate boys tallied 182 points to place seventh in a field of 10 teams. River was paced by senior Will Coleman and junior Vincent Valente who placed 18th and 22nd, respectively. Both were in the top 15% of a field that included 159 runners. Bay junior Michael Hanselman won the event with a time of 16:30.3 Westlake junior Jeremy Snyder was the runner-up some 6 seconds back.
All five scoring runners for Bay logged top-10 finishes, and the Rockets won the GLC Preview with a team score of 28. Westlake (75) and Fairview (83) placed second and third, respectively.
On the girls' side at Cahoon Park, the Double-R cranked out three top-15 finishes (freshman Anna Buehrle--eighth, freshman Brooke Hogan--10th, freshman Camille Carroll--14th) en route to logging 95 points in a third-place finish behind Westlake (18) and Bay (69). Westlake swept the top three spots, with Ellie Irwin, Christina Ware, and Maggie Hennessey finishing 1-2-3. Irwin's winning time was a blistering 20:38.7, 40 seconds ahead of the runner up.
At the Riverside High School event in Painesville -- in a night of racing under the lights -- the DI girls field was loaded with 24 teams. The muddy derby of 213 competitors included seven Pirates. Four of those River runners clocked top-50 finishes, and the Maroon & White placed sixth with a team score of 186.
The upperclass crew of junior Grace Lavelle (12th), senior Brianna Chaves (21st), and junior Katie Stirm (31st) led the way for Rocky River. Lavelle logged a fine time of 20:49.36 in threading her way through the crowded field. Her younger sister, sophomore Lauren Lavelle, placed 49th.
Avon boasted five top-25 runners in winning the event with a score of 66 points. That bested Manheim Township (80) by a slim margin.
Junior Daniela Scheffler of Uniontown Lake won the meet, crossing the wire in 18:52.16.
Both Pirate teams are slated to return to action Sept. 2 at the Mentor Cardinal Classic hosted by Mentor High School.
by Skip Snow