ADAM RAEDER
PERRY TOWNSHIP — Over the past week, all the Riverside Beavers could do was believe.
Believe they could overcome the injuries that had submarined their season to that point. Believe that the gap between them and North could be closed. Believe that a Premier Athletic Conference title was more than just a pipe dream.
“Honestly, you can’t tell difference, whether you can (do it) or you can’t. Obviously, there’s the option that we weren’t going to win, not run our best. But we didn’t want to think about it,” Riverside’s Shane Brandt said.
Now, they’ll never have to. Because they did run their best.
And they did win.
Led by a two-three finish from Brandt and Kevin DeGroot, the Beavers overcame North’s fearsome top three and a strong surge from Chardon to claim the PAC boys cross country crown Thursday on a fast course at the Perry YMCA. The Beavers finished with 39 points, while Chardon took second with 54 and North was third with 56 points.
Madison (136) took fifth, and Lakeside (156) finished sixth.
In the girls race, Madison took third place (66) Riverside was fourth (72), and Lakeside was sixth (138). The South girls took first place with 50 points.
“I don’t know what to say,” Brandt said. “We all just put it together.”
No one more so than Brandt, who set a new personal record Thursday, shattering his old one in the process by 33 seconds, with a time of 16 minutes, 48 seconds.
“He stepped way up to the next level,” Beavers coach Phil Baioni said. “That was the next level we’d been looking for all year.”
A Beavers team that didn’t know what to expect heading into the race was soon on the cusp of something special as DeGroot followed Brandt across the finish line in 16:48, though he had to survive late charges from South’s Wade Coffin and North’s Nick Clad to do it.
“I was scared,” DeGroot said. “I saw those two guys coming at me.”
DeGroot started putting distance between Coffin and Clad when someone shouted to him that he had just 200 meters left to go. What DeGroot didn’t know at the time was that he was still a quarter mile from the finish line. Luckily for DeGroot, he had enough left in his take to sustain his sprint.
“I wish I knew I had that much (energy) during the race,” he said. “I felt like I started again.”
Neither DeGroot or Brandt had a shot at catching North’s Sean Naderer, who ran away from the field to finish in 16:01.
But the Beavers didn’t need an individual title to claim the team championship because the runners whose injuries had hampered them all season came on strong with a PAC title on the line.
Tim Shafer and his brother, Dan, were both competing in their first race in two weeks. Tim, who has been battling chronic hip problems, finished in eighth in 17:25, while Dan took 15th in 18:00. Justin Salminen split the siblings, taking 11th for the Beavers with a time of 17:41.
Just how important were Salminen and Dan Shafer? Through the first three runners, North and Riverside were locked in a dead heat with 14 points each. It was the final two that let Riverside pull away.
“I couldn’t ask these guys for a better race than they ran today,” Bioli said.
Tom Jackson’s sixth-place finish paced the Chardon boys, but it was the strong pack of Bryan Tysl (12), Ty Kawalec (13) and Robbie Wright (14) that lifted Chardon past North and into second place.
Konnor Lashley took 10th place, giving Madison its best finish of the afternoon.
“I started off slow,” said Lashley, who finished in 17:37. “Everybody got out of the way and it was hard to catch up.
“I was in the upper loop and saw that Naderer had already passed the tree (that marked the course’s northwest boundary) and realized he was going to run a ridiculous time.”
Despite shin splints, Matt Raikes turned in the best time for Lakeside with a 18:09 that was a season-best for the senior and good enough for 19th place.
“I felt OK,” Raikes said. “I had some injuries going on with me, but I sucked it up and did what I had to do.”
In the girls race, Susie Nelson couldn’t find a way to reel in South’s one-two punch of Lauren Allen and Jamie Clapacs as last year’s champion was forced to settle for third place.
“I wanted to win this again, but I knew South had two phenomenal runners,” Nelson, whose time of 20:13 was 57 seconds off the winning mark, said. “They were just – they ran a really strong race.”
Riverside’s Cierra Hungerford finished fourth in 20:38 and Annie Nelson took sixth, but a sharp dropoff from there doomed the Beavers chances at two PAC titles.
“It was kind of hard after last year. We lost so many runners,” Susie Nelson said. “It’s kind of a rebuilding year.”
In fact, the Beavers fell below Madison, which was paced by a fifth-place finish from Taylor Cline.
“I just thought, ‘It’s our last meet. It’s the PAC,’” Cline said. “I tried to give it everything I had, even when I got tired.”
Cline and Annie Nelson were locked in a tight race to the finish line, with Cline eventually pulling out a 6-second advantage for fifth place, finishing in 20:43.
“I didn’t think I’d get her, but my teammates were cheering me and I gave it everything I had,” Cline said.
Laura Bruening was the second Blue Streak across the finish line, taking 13th place, while Allison Rothlisberger claimed 15th and India Kijauskas took 16th.
“They did really well today,” Madison coach Rachelle Orris said. “I’m really proud of them.”
Brittany Barchanowicz, with a time of 22:07, provided Lakeside’s best finish, taking 18th place.
“I felt pretty good,” she said after a race that gave her a new personal best by 5 seconds. “I’m kind of disappointed, because I didn’t PR as much as I’d like to.”
Boys
n RIVERSIDE (1) – 2. Brandt, 16:21; 3. DeGroot, 16:48; 7. T. Shafer, 17.25; Salminen, 17:41; D. Shafer, 18:00; 29. Ian Kallay, 18:44; 35.Brian Nelson, 18:52; 39. Alex Passafiume, 19:15; 41. Alex Fuhrmann, 19:21; 64. Dan Rusmussen, 21:17; 69. Joe Hayden, 22:08; 76. Brian Moore, 22:38.
n MADISON (5) – 10. Lashley, 17:37; 24. Hernando Louis, 18:25; 30. Jordan Bevan, 18:44; 38. Mitch Farnsworth, 19:08; 46. Alex Byers, 19:44; 47. Jon Simerlink, 19:46; 49. Jacob Freshour, 20:05; 52. Robby Beirnstein, 20:29; 54. Ryan Spangenberg, 20:29; 63. Nathan Johnson, 21:13; 65. Wolfgang Clough, 21:17; 78. Brett Malinowski, 23:11.
n LAKESIDE (6) – 19. Raikes, 18:09; 31. Matt Warner, 18:46; 37. Drew Dioneff, 18:56; 42. Marc Strong19:23; 45. Ryan Simmons, 19:38; 56. Louis Roman, 20:32; 60. Frank Pugliese, 20:52; 62. Ariel Maldonado, 21:08; 79. Jay Montgomery, 23:21; 82. John Wicker, 26:28.
Girls
n MADISON (3) – 5. Cline, 20:43; 13. Bruening, 21:43; 15. Allison Rothlisberger, 21:48; 16. Jillanne Mackey, 21:55; 17. India Kijauskas, 21:58; 19. Lauren Hutchison, 22:13; 33. Tory Furpahs, 23:27; 34. Julia Sawyer, 23:28; 35. Chelsea Frey, 23:30; 37. Michelle Chicarelle, 23:37; 39. Kayla Loughry, 23:58; 40. Taylor Raines, 24:06; 45. Jessica Ferebee, 24:29; 46. Amie Kreider, 24:33; 60. Leah Baker, 26:08; 69. Cindy O’Brien, 27:51; 76. Emily Sheaman, 29:37;
n RIVERSIDE (4) – 3. S. Nelson, 20:13; 4. Hungerford, 20:38; 6. A. Nelson, 20:49; 30. Lauren Bell, 23:16; 42. Jennafer Waters, 24:09; 43. Hailee Pavisich, 24:17; 52. Jessie Steinke, 25:16; 55. Mary Phelps, 25:19; 57. Beth DellaDonna, 25:32; 61. Clare Duffy, 26:10; 75. Tiffany Salminen, 29:26.
n LAKESIDE (6) – 18. Barchanowicz, 22:07; 26. Marissa Johnson, 22:57; 32. Katie Eurich, 3:26; 44. Amber Sturgill, 24:24; 47. Marissa Snyder, 24:35; 48. Sarah Harris, 24:54; 58. Kristen Snyder, 25:53; 67. Melissa Brodhead, 27:24; 72. Trisha Sardella, 28:03; 74. Hayley Wrightnour, 29:06; 77. Brittany Modic, 30:52; 80. Lauren Teed, 35:52.
