BOARDMAN, Ohio (Oct. 29, 2022) -- For a second time in as many autumns, Rocky River Girls Cross Country is headed to the DI Ohio Championships. Led by junior Brianna Chaves -- who placed fourth, an otherwise youthful Pirate squad posted a fine team score of 192 to take fifth place in the DI Region 1 qualifying meet held at Boardman High School. [results:
boys |
girls]
River's placement sends the team to the 2022 OHSAA Cross Country State Championships, which will be contested Nov. 5 at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The Pirates placed fifth in a field of 24 teams. Chaves -- who crossed the wire with a time of 18:54.5 -- was joined on Rocky River's score sheet by Grace Lavelle (45th), Katie Stirm (46th), Jane Rathbun (58th), and Allie Dewey (65th). All four runners in that group are underclassmen.
The Pirate boys had a solid showing at the Region 1 meet but finished eighth to end their season. Senior Majid Abuaun (37th) and Luke Dorenkott (54th) paced a River effort that netted 221 points. The Maroon & White were eighth in a field of 24 teams vying to get to the Buckeye State title run in Obetz. Abuaun and Dorenkott were backed on the score sheet by Ruairi Zuercher (61st), Ben Buehrle (67th), Grant Preto (70th), and Jackson Rood (82nd).
The Double-R girls took seventh in last year's state meet, which was the program's first appearance since 2013. Their race Saturday is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. Follow live results
here.
CANNON FIRE ...
RR BXC A-OK IN '22: The River boys team closed out a season that saw it earn a runner-up finish in the Great Lakes Conference Preview (Aug. 27), place third at the 50th Annual Mentor Cardinal Classic (Sept. 3), earn fourth at the prestigious McQuaid Invitational in Rochester, N.Y. (Oct. 1), win the 2022 GLC title (Oct. 15), and take third in the DI Lorain District Tournament (Oct. 22).
YOUNG BUCS MAKE STATE-MENT: The girls roster headed to Obetz -- the above five scorers from Saturday plus Corinne Angney and Lauren Lavelle -- includes one junior, four sophomores, and two freshmen. That's six underclassmen. No other roster in the DI state meet will have more than four.
by Skip Snow