BOB ETTINGER
ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP — For the Edgewood girls cross country team, Tuesday was a team day. Individual accomplishments were great, but team accomplishments were better. Even for Mallory Kreider, who won the meet for the second consecutive year and finished a couple of minutes in front of her nearest competitor.
“I was happy with how it turned out, for myself and the team,” Kreider said. “Today was a team day because we knew it was the last conference meet, more than likely. We really wanted to be strong today.”
Behind a good team race and the top finish by Kreider, the Warriors laid claim to league championship with 30 points at their home course.
“They ran, from top to bottom, a great race today,” Edgewood coach Steve Hill said. “They came out and ran well. They went after it today. I’m very impressed.”
And Kreider, as always, set the tone for the rest of the team — even going so far as to rally the team around the idea that a team championship was the most important order of the day.
“Mainly, that’s something (Kreider) took upon herself,” Hill said. “Being the NEC champion last year, she wanted the team championship for the girls. She wanted them all to have a championship.
“Then, this might be the last NEC meet and they wanted to say they were the last NEC champions. That’s something they all wanted and they did on their own.”
“Mallory is just amazing,” Edgewood senior Ashley DeForest said. “She gets better and better every day. She makes us want to focus on getting up there with her. She’s a role model for us. She makes us want to work hard like she does.”
Hill wasn’t far from the truth in explaining why it was important to Kreider that the team win the league title.
“We just knew that this was probably the last NEC meet,” Kreider said. “I felt like we bonded as a team this year and (winning) seemed like a realistic goal. Plus, last year we lost by like three points. We really wanted to make it happen this year.
“(Winning) was a great feeling. I wanted my teammates to experience it as well.”
When the race was over and the results were not yet official, Hill didn’t even have to tell Kreider who the winner was.
“When I told her we won, she said, ‘I know already,’” Hill said. “She must have done it in her head. There hadn’t even been anything written down yet. That’s something that was important to her and the team. That’s what a leader should do.”
Geneva, paced by a third-place finish from Leslie Woodworth (21:49), was second with 42 points.
“They ran about as well as they could,” Geneva coach Walt Lininger said. “We knew beating Edgewood was a longshot, but we ran really well. I can’t fault their effort.”
Conneaut, led by a second-place finish from Hannah Fertig (21:29), finished third with 59 points and Jefferson was fourth with 84.
Kreider finished first in 19:20, 2:19 ahead of Fertig.
“I just wondered where the team was stacking up against other teams,” Kreider said. “I was hoping everything would work out. I was hoping and waiting to see where (my teammates) were.
“I didn’t think (about the distance between me and second place). I was focused on running my time and where (my teammates) were. I didn’t think about second place.”
The Edgewood junior went out front at the start and lengthened her lead with every stride. Without runners at her side for the majority of the race, Kreider focused on her own race, trying to make sure she ran the type of race she could be happy with.
“I had certain points on the course I was trying to focus on,” Kreider said. “Blake Road is a long stretch and I didn’t want there to be a lull there. I kept trying to drive through it down there on Blake Road.”
Fertig was extremely pleased with her second-place finish, as was Woodworth with her third. Both were largely unaffected by how far ahead Kreider was.
“I was very surprised to be in second,” Fertig said. “I thought I’d be fighting for third or fourth. I thought (Jefferson’s) Mikayla (Hamilton) would be up there. For me, it’s kind of a victory. We all knew Mallory would have it, to finish in second place was amazing.”
“I’m really happy,” Woodworth said. “I wanted third, but I didn’t think it would happen with the times some of the other teams had run.”
DeForest (22:08) took home fourth place.
“I wasn’t completely happy (with my race), but I ran the best I could,” DeForest said. “I could’ve run better, I could’ve been faster, but the course wasn’t as fast as we thought it would be.”
Rounding out the All-NEC team were Edgewood’s Elizabeth Kline (5th, 22:16), Geneva’s Alyssa Nieset (6th, 22:21) and Carly Cash (8th, 22:33) and Conneaut’s Jennifer Oxley (7th, 22:27).
Jefferson’s Mikayla Hamilton, who was expected to challenge for a top-three finish, dropped out of the race a little more than halfway through. She had been nursing a quad injury entering the meet, but tried to make the best of it.
“I think she’s disappointed in herself,” Jefferson coach Gary Thaxton said. “I think she feels she let the team down, she feels like she let everyone down — which isn’t the case. If you’re hurt, you’re hurt, there’s nothing you can about it.”
Julianna Simmons finished ninth in 22:27 and Brittany Dadlow was 11th in 22:49 to complete the scoring for the Warriors.
Nicole Smith was 10th in 22:39 and Natasha Loveridge took home 15th in 23:09 to round out the scoring for the Eagles.
Edgewood (30) — 1, Mallory Kreider, 19:20; 4, Ashley DeForest, 22:08; 5, Elizabeth Kline, 22:16; 9, Julianna Simmons, 22:37; 11, Brittany Dadlow, 22:49.
Geneva (42) — 3, Leslie Woodworth, 21:49; 6, Alyssa Nieset, 22:21; 8, Carly Cash, 22:33; 10, Nicole Smith, 22:39; 15, Natasha Loveridge, 23:09; 16, Alex Varkette, 23:55; 26, Rachael Covell, 26:01; 28, Paige Bowser, 28:40.
Conneaut (59) — 2, Hannah Fertig, 21:29; 7, Jennifer Oxley, 22:27; 13, Jessica Hively, 23:00; 17, Leeanne Banyas, 24:01; 20, Kelly Gore, 24:23; 27, Leah Stamp, 27:21.
Jefferson (84) — 12, Brooke Orvos, 22:50; 14, Kelsey Hruska, 23:08; 18, Julia Mansfield, 24:11; 19, Joelle Eskelin, 24:18; 21, Claire Hawkins, 24:32; 22, Dayna Stevens, 24:35; 23, Amanda Twiggs, 24:36; 24, Breanna Balascio, 24:39; 25, Nicole Dallas, 25:20; 29, Taylor Franklin, 29:33; 30, Samantha Addair, 30:39.
