Division II was good to area boys on Saturday.
The Perry, Jefferson, Edgewood and Pymatuning Valley cross country teams all finished in the top four of their respective district meets to qualify for the regional at Boardman next week.
The Pirates placed all five of their runners in the top 15 in winning the meet at Lakeland Community College with 52 points. Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin was second with 57, Chagrin Falls was third with 62.
“They did a phenomenal job,” Perry coach Bill Sarvis said. “Our pack’s been getting a little tighter the last three weeks. They put a great one together today. I’m proud of them.”
Edgewood had three runners in the top 10 in placing fourth with 97 points. University was fifth with 107.
“I think, actually, we were a little lucky today,” Edgewood coach Steve Hill said. “We just got out. Our top three ran extremely well. The Lemay twins (Chris and Josh) really stepped up and ran personal bests. Derryn (Tomsic) hung in there. He really hasn’t been feeling well all week. We’re trying to get our four and five guys up a little bit.”
Jefferson took second in the meet at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds with four runners placing in the top 11. Lakeview won with 40 points and the Falcons tallied 58.
“They did a nice job,” Jefferson coach Steve Locy said. “Obviously, the boys have a tradition of going beyond the district and they kept it going today.
“All four (of our top guys) ran a real nice race. T.J. (Furman, the associate head boys coach) does a great job with them.”
Ravenna Southeast was third 97 points and the Lakers took fourth with 108.
“That was one of our goals,” PV coach Tony Noxon said. “They’ve worked extremely hard this year to be able to take it to the next level and run at the regional next weekend and we’re there.
“We’re a very goal-oriented team.”
Aaran Gessic led the Pirates, placing second in 17:01, just two seconds off race winner Michael Beebe of NDCL. Dustin Gilbert was ninth in 17:31, Eric Grubaugh took 12th in 17:48 and Alexander Guthrie and Devin Pritschau were 14th and 15th in 18:06 and 18:07, respectively.
“Aaran battled his way through,” Sarvis said. “His only weakness has been finishing. Today, he battled all the way through to the end of the race. He gave incredible leadership to the team.
“He was unhappy when it was done. I told him to look at what he’d done, but he doesn’t see it. He wanted to get into the 16s. That’s a wrestler’s mentality, I guess. I like it.”
Chris Lemay paced the Warriors, taking third 17:04. He was followed by Josh Lemay (7th, 17:25) and Derryn Tomsic (10th, 17:36).
“Chris really came into his own at the All-County Meet,” Hill said. “Josh has been up and down, but this was a big day for him.
“That’s not to take anything away from Derryn. He’s a senior and he’s guided them through. He’s a great kid who’s been around me for the last six years. I have a lot of trust in him. He’s done some great things.”
Matt Kantor was the Falcons’ leader with a third-place finish in 16:55. Brandon Scribben was fifth in 17:31, Andy Picard was 10th in 17:47.5 and Steven Houser was 11th in 17:47.8.
“I felt Picard really stepped up and showed some senior leadership,” Locy said.
Drew Wonderling came home ninth in 17:46 to lead the Lakers. Behind him for PV were Chet Mientkiewicz (20th, 18:09) and the trio of Rodney Bell, Rory Gallatin and Corry Mientkiewicz in 28th, 29th and 30th in 18:38.06, 18:38.67 and 18:39, respectively.
“Drew ran a great race today,” Noxon said.
“What did it for us were our three, four and five guys. We stress pack running. We can’t have places in between our three, four and five.”
Nick Hiltz took 35th in 18:48 as the Falcons’ fifth runner.
Noah Morgan (37th, 19:11) and Cory Stewart (44th, 19:18) were Edgewood’s fourth and fifth runners.
Division I
Riverside used the top-20 finishes of Jacob Burr and Matt Lee to run to a fourth-place finish and a berth at the Boardman regional.
Mentor won with 33 points, Chardon was second with 48, North took third with 86 and the Beavers tallied 115. Shaker Heights was the last team to qualify in fifth place with 146 points.
Lakeside took sixth with 177 points and Madison was seventh with 187.
Jacob Burr paced the Beavers coming in 16th in 17:19. Matt Lee was 20th in 17:27, Brigham Baker was 23rd in 17:42, Kevin Nelson was 27th in 17:54 and Brad Rinella placed 29th in 18:00.
The Dragons’ Brady Bunnell and the Blue Streaks’ Patrick Dorrough qualified as individuals, placing 18th in 17:25 and 19th in 17:26, respectively.
Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.
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