Mallory Kreider wanted to try a little something different in the Division II girls race at the Spartan Invitational at Boardman High School on Saturday. Though the move may not have worked, it provided her an opportunity to better herself as a runner.

Locked in a three-way battle for the lead with St. Clairsville’s Kelly Perzanowski and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Christina Blair about midway through the race, Kreider attempted to break away with a surge.

“I was hoping to break away, not get caught and make some distance,” Kreider said. “Maybe it was too early and maybe it wasn’t. Obviously, it didn’t work today, but hopefully I’ll benefit from it later.

“I wanted to try something different. That’s what these races are about — trying something different.”

Perzanowski caught and passed Kreider with about 200 yards to go and won in 18:37. Kreider came home in second in 18:41 and Blair was third in 18:47.

“Around the mile-and-a-half mark, I made my move to break away,” Kreider said. “I was ahead for a while, but I was running scared. I knew they were coming. I knew the CVCA girl was there, but I didn’t know there was another girl there, too.

“(Perzanowski) passed with about 200 yards to go. I gave all I had. She was just better than me today.”

Despite taking second, Kreider was pleased with her time.

“It was a great race,” Kreider said. “I’d rather run a time I’m happy with and be second than win and not be happy with my time. I was glad to have those girls with me today.”

Perry’s Abbie Clifford (5th, 19:40) and Marissa Baranauskas (9th, 19:51) also finished in the top 10.

The Pirates placed fourth as a team with 164 points. CVCA won the meet with 60 points. St. Vincent-St. Mary was second with 70 and St. Clairsville was third with 123 points.

Jefferson placed 21st of 37 teams with 613 points.

In the boys Division II race, Perry’s Dean Light was the best area finisher in 12th place in 16:51. Edgewood’s Thomas Butryn was 14th in 16:53 and Jefferson’s Chris Kantor was 17th in 17:06.

Edgewood placed 14th with 424 points, Perry was 18th with 519, Jefferson was 29th with 769 and Conneaut was 30th of 46 teams with 775. Peninsula Woodridge won with 102 points.

Behind Clifford and Baranauskas for the Pirates were Rachael Greuber (31st, 20:43), Angelica Zampini (51st, 21:07) and Ally Nelson (76th, 21:44).

For the Warriors girls, Julianna Simmons was 34th in 20:48 and Ashley Keenan was 119th in 22:44.

Hannah Francis paced the Falcons girls in 20:56. She was 40th. Sam Morford was 91st in 22:06, Brook Orvos was 146th in 23:43, Dayna Stevens was 182nd in 24:30 and Summer Pacholke was 183rd in 24:32.

Jennifer Oxley paced the Conneaut girls in 22:57. She was 126th and followed by Maria Perkio (159th, 23:59), Jessica Hively (178th, 24:26) and Charea Sayles (251st, 30:52).

Following Butryn for the Warriors were Travis Dickey (73rd, 18:07), Brian Fields (74th, 18:08), Taylor Dufour (111th, 18:39) and Phillip Sheanon (153rd, 19:04).

Behind Light were Brian Vonlehmden in 118th in 18:43, Devin Pritschau in 154th in 19:05, Tony Sansalone was 166th in 19:13 and Austin Tomsic in 167th in 19:15.

Xavier Sanchez finished 106th in 18:36 for the Falcons boys. He was followed by Charlie Nines (195th, 19:40), Daran Woodin (222nd, 20:06) and Jon Simon (232nd, 20:16).

Casey Tagle paced the Spartans boys in 90th place in 18:21. Alex Williams was 121st in 18:45, Tevin Colbert was 150th in 19:02, Ben Betteridge was 173rd in 19:23 and Michael was 244th in 20:27.

In the girls open race, Perry’s Jackie Tenney was 7th in 22:16 and Geneva’s Alyssa Nieset was 14th in 22:45.

Leslie Woodworth was 20th for the Eagles in 22:57 and Mackenzie Henry was 24th in 23:12 for Perry. Emily Brainard was 29th in 23:26 for the Pirates and Cassidy Kuharik was 40th in 23:46.

Natasha Loveridge placed 50th in 24:13 for Geneva and Elise Clark helped Perry to a sixth-place finish by coming in 61st in 24:31. The Pirates tallied 116 points behind Moon Area, who won with 54 points.



Division I

Geneva was 30th with 795 points and Lakeside was 32nd of 35 teams with 864 points in the boys race. Massillon Perry won with 173 points.

Geneva’s Drew Avsec led the locals in 44th place in 17:20. He was followed by Gabe McLeod in 116th in 18:08, Kyle Miller in 200th in 19:24, Mark Ankrom in 204th and Michael Ellis in 231st in 21:07.

Lakeside’s Drew Dioneff was 119th in 18:10, Marc Strong was 160th in 18:39, Ryan Simmons was 188th in 19:03, Brandon Lopez was 194th in 19:18 and Matt Warner was 203rd in 19:26.

Lakeside placed 30th of 30 teams in the girls race with 790 points. North Canton Hoover won with 87 points.

Brittany Barchanowicz placed 113th in 22:29, Marissa Johnson was 130th in 22:53, Katie Eurich was 174th in 24:15 and heather Fernberg and Chelsea Wheeler were 186th and 187th in 24:59 and 25:05, respectively.

The Dragons finished 30th of 31 teams in the Division I boys open race with 948 points. Massillon Jackson won with 49 points.





Division III

Kyle Eastlake pace the Pymatuning Valley boys to a 16th-place finish with 493 points.

Maplewood won with 81 points, McDonald was second with 82 points and Independence was third with 82 points. Grand Valley was 29th of 33 teams with 813 points.

Eastlake was 31st in 17:43. Tyler Gruskiewicz, the next Laker in, was 87th in 19:03. Zach Jones was 106th in 19:15, Rodney Bell was 123rd in 19:32 and Alex Jones was 236th in 22:05.

Austin Drenski led the Mustangs, finishing 138th in 19:43. He was followed by Tyler Castle (141st, 19:46), Tim Deslie (232nd, 22:01), Zach Gage (237th, 22:07) and Ryan Shelko (299th, 25:22).

Ami Turner was the top finisher for the Lakers in the girls race with an 89th-place finish in 23:25.

PV placed 30th of 31 teams with 752 points. Gilmour Academy won the race with 110 points. McDonald was second with 124 points and Berkshire took third with 146 points.

Lexis Cunningham placed 122nd in 24:12, Gabrielle Lipinsky was 169th in 26:27, Colleen Wonderling was 182nd in 27:35 and Samantha Jordan was 190th in 30:33.

Katherine Carlson was 164th in 24:19 and Melissa Prax was 184th in 24:45 for Grand Valley.



Junior high

Rowe’s Kyle Prevot placed 34th in 11:42 to pace the Spartans to 36th place with 912 points in the middle school team race.

Lakeside was 32nd with 734 points and Braden was 38th in 967. Louisville won with 95 points.

Vinsent Withrow placed 90th in 12:25, Logan Cleversy was 96th in 12:28, Keith Griffin was 114th in 12:37 and Jesse Blair was 229th in 13:58 for the Dragons.

Following Prevot for Rowe were Alex Adkins (133rd, 12:48), John Mannion (198th, 13:28), Samuel Ivey (289th, 16:01) and Jeremy Fergusen (292nd, 16:08).

The Bulldogs’ runners were Phillip Sarbiewski (148th, 12:58), Josh Lemay (185th, 13:22), Brad McGirr (186th, 13:23), Chris Lemay (210th, 13:33) and A.J. Claypool (267th, 14:54).

Lakeside’s Brady Bunnell raced home in 11:32 to claim first place in the middle school open race. Dylan Ackley was seventh in 12:00, Jedadiah Smith was 55th in 13:31, Chris Otto was 149th in 14:58 and Jesse Cooper was 158th in 15:14.

The Dragons were 11th of 17 teams with 245 points. North Canton won with 70 points.

Rowe’s Mackenzi Wheeler (58th, 13:27) and Alexis Millard (95th, 13:58) were the highest-finishing locals in the girls middle school team race. Jessica Lynch followed in 165th place in 14:31. Michaela Rodgers was 285th in 17:31 and Alayna Latimore was 290th in 18:23.

Alexis Benedict placed 231st in 15:44 to lead the Dragons. Angela Withrow (237th, 15:56), Megan Abrams (242nd, 15:58), Abby Licate (257th, 16:17, Jacee McFadden (267th, 16:38).

Kelly Legere finished 276th in 16:58 as Braden’s lone runner.

Rowe was 37th with 851 points and Lakeside was 41st with 1,182 points. Louisville won with 180 points.



Conneaut Lake Invit.

Eric Riesterer, as the lone SS. John and Paul participant, placed 73rd in 24:17.



Junior high

SJP’s Steven Houser netted a fourth-place finish in 12:34 on the 2.12-mile course. He was followed by Nick Coach, who was 19th in 14:00, for the Heralds.

In the girls race, Morgan Sas was 42nd in 18:36 and Kelly Baxter was 56th in 24:34 for SJP.