Staff photo/Dan Heiner. Lakeview College’s Trent Miller (328th) runs as teammate Jake Langmeier (326th) follows the course during the Division II boys cross country regional meet at Boardman High School.
Boardman — Started in Division III and ended in Division I, but teams and runners from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties consistently stood out.
The area had a strong showing at the regional cross country meet held Saturday at Boardman High School. Several teams and individuals made their way to the state tournament this week.
On the boys side, Boardman, Lakeview and Maplewood will represent Mahoning Valley. And for girls, McDonald and Salem will represent the region.
In addition to this, many individual runners, including the 2023 state champion, will take on the Fort Obets course on November 2nd.
Division I Boys
There was one thing that was eating away at some members of the Boardman cross country team. That means the Spartans haven’t advanced to state since 2013.
That all changed on Saturday, when a group of boys gathered around the Spartans’ tent near the shot put circle and cheered when the results were announced. The Spartans are tied for seventh place with Chardon with 244 points. The top eight teams advanced to state.
David Daltorio was Boardman’s No. 1 runner all season. He started off well, but his condition gradually started to decline in the second half of the course. He finished in 19th place with a time of 16 minutes 17.34 seconds.
But his Spartan teammates were there to provide support in the middle of the pack. Jacob Turek (16:48.82) finished 46th, Dylan White (16:56.16) 55th and Dominic Theodore finished 89th, earning 72 points for the team.
“It wasn’t the race that[Daltorio]had envisioned, but his teammates were there to pick him up, so that’s a credit to them.” Boardman head coach John Phillips said. “David has been a leader this season and he needed his teammates today, which is really great. He’s had his back all season, and they had his back today. This is me. It was a whole team effort to get us there.”
The Division I race wasn’t heavily populated by locals, with Justin Saari of Austintown Fitch being the only local to advance. He finished ninth with a time of 16:04.23.
Division I Girls
No teams in the area competed on the Division I women’s side, but one Spartan team is scheduled to run in Columbus. Boardman’s Olivia Brady placed ninth in 19:13.03.
Division II Boys
The Lakeview boys cross country team had to wait to find out its fate.
Laser timing sped up the results process, but results were not available until about 15 minutes after the race. However, the moment it was posted, cheers erupted from the small crowd behind the goal line.
The Bulldogs placed fifth and qualified for the state championship.
“There are hundreds of runners, but only one can win. And only six of the 20 teams go (to state), so we focused on the process instead.” Lakeview head coach Sean Voorhees said. “We sleep, eat right, and train properly. The results usually resolve themselves.”
Lakeview finished fifth out of the six teams that qualified. The Bulldogs scored 173 points.
The Bulldogs maintained their season despite having no runners in the top 20.
Anthony Marble-Salem finished 22nd, Jake Langmeyer 37th, Trent Miller 41st and Griffin Oravec 47th to round out Lakeview’s top 50 finishers.
Only one person advanced in the Division II boys race, Salem’s Sam Jakubek, who finished 10th in 16 minutes, 33.14 seconds.
Division II Girls
Salem returns to the state championship.
The Quakers finished in fifth place with 191 points and earned a ticket to Fort Obetz.
Salem adopted the tried-and-true method of running in groups. In the group of six, three runners crossed the finish line. Maggie Hopple finished 32nd, Maggie Hall 35th and Cassidy Wallace 37th. That group mentality led to the concentration of points.
“A big goal this year was for these seniors to become the first team in school history to make it four years in a row (to go to state) and the first senior class.” Salem head coach Ted Juhaniak said. “This is pretty special because our school has had some very good teams over the years. I hear that from professional athletes, but I’m speechless. You. is very proud of them.”
Ursulin had two runners finish in the top 10 in the Division II girls race. Sabaya Woody (19:12.98) was fifth and teammate Camille Dunifer (19:17.08) was sixth.
There were also several local individual qualifiers, with Lakeview’s Jalyn DeLeon placing 18th with a time of 19:41.11. Clarice Martin of the West Branch placed 21st with a time of 19:51.04.
Division III Girls
Experience can be important in cross country, and Heartland Christian’s Rebecca Geis has plenty of it.
After winning the Spartan Invitational earlier this fall, Gice earned a chance to defend his state championship. She won Saturday’s Division III girls regional tournament and was sent back to state.
Geis won by a landslide in a time of 18 minutes, 10.58 seconds. She finished with a little more than 18 seconds ahead of Smithville’s Kaitlyn Carr.
“I just do the best I can and trust God with the results.” Geis said. “I think he knows what’s best for me and I trust his plan.”
Naomi Sheasley took third place with a time of 18:33.65, and Chokers Abbey Castle took fifth place with a time of 19:18.11.
On the team side, McDonald led the Mahoning Valley team, finishing fourth with 132 points. Maplewood fell just two points behind its top-five rival.
Other individual qualifiers include Mineral Ridge freshman Kylee Molnar (19:35.26), who finished eighth, and Anna Steimle (19:45.86), who finished 12th and will represent Grand Valley. Mackenzie Edgar (19:47.21) placed 14th.
Division III Boys
The McDonald boys improved with a third-place finish in the Division III race. The Blue Devils finished with 114 points, second only to Littman’s 87 points and Waynedale’s 102 points.
McDonald’s Carson Clase took the lead with a time of 16:29.92, good enough for fourth place. Teammate Joey Capazello was sixth with a time of 16:36.58.
Emmitt Subbach, who returned to Boardman after winning this year’s Spartan Invitational, ran a time of 16:06.55 to take second place and become the local top individual.
“I raced a lot of the runners I competed against today.” Slough said. “It helped me see how they run. It allowed me to correct some things that weren’t great at the time. I’m happy with how I ran today.”
Mineral Ridge’s Dominick Papagallo took third place with a time of 16:19.08. The next local athletes were Jackson Milton’s Lucas Sokol, 12th in 16:47.83, Grand Valley’s Sam Steimle, 14th in 16:50.54, and Lowellville’s Nate Yong, 16th. He was 15th with a time of: 51.02 seconds.
Two Maplewood runners were the last area runners to qualify. Ethan Nevinski placed 17th with a time of 16:57.70, followed closely by Micah Sparks with a time of 17:06.87.
