BOARDMAN, Ohio (Oct. 26, 2024) -- The Double-R will be double-barreled when it heads to the Columbus area for the Buckeye State championships at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, on Nov. 2. Rocky River Boys and Girls Cross Country squads both continued with the momentum they have gained this fall and both qualified through regional competition Saturday. [Results:
DII boys |
DI girls]
In the DII Region 5 qualifier, sophomore Ryan Stirm and senior Henry Lange came through with top-10 finishes to help lead River to a nifty five-man score of 159, third-best in a field of 19 teams. Stirm circuited the course at Boardman High School in 16 minutes-and-8.78 seconds, a time bested by just one competitor (Bay junior Kieran Ripley at 16:07.31) in a field of 148 state-meet hopefuls. Lange crossed the wire in 16:25.86 to take eighth. The balance of River's scoring came from Simon Baum (54P), Jackson Rood (60P), and Vincent Valente (66).
Senior Grace Lavelle took sixth in pacing the Pirate girls to a fifth-place finish in the DI Region 1 race. Lavelle was near the front of a tight cluster coming in after the top-3. She clocked a 19:05.26. Rocky River's team score was built on Lavelle's sixth, 30P (Katie Stirm), 31P (Jane Rathbun), 46P (Jane McCann), and 54P (Anna Buehrle). [finishes listed are among team-scoring runners]
Both Buccaneer teams now head to the final meet of the Buckeye State high school season looking to fly to the finish and close the fall with a flourish. Last year, the River boys and girls took fifth and 10th, respectively, in their state meets.
by Skip Snow
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