High school cross country: Black River boys lead area teams with first district title since 1984

ELYRIA — Black River's boys didn't mess around Saturday. Looking for their first district cross country title since 1984, the Pirates erased all doubts early in running away with the Elyria Division III championship at Lorain County Community College. Senior Jared Bradford (fourth, 17:38.0) and junior Wyatt Royster (fifth, 17:40.4) went 1-2 to lead the way. The No. 10-ranked team in the state coaches poll, Black River had 52 points to easily outdistance Smithville (106), Open Door (109) and Dalton (113), the other regional qualifiers. Smithville, at No. 26, was the only other state-ranked team in the field. "It feels incredible," Bradford said. "Winning it is the best feeling in the world. These guys have worked so hard since April. I'm so happy to see it finally pay off for them. We had a couple rough weeks coming up to districts. We didn't get the job done at conference (finishing second) so we all wanted this one very bad. I'm just so proud of these guys. I love them. I'm super excited going into next weekend (regionals)." "It's just exciting," Royster said. "Our school really doesn't have anything like this right now. There was a lot of motivation today to go out and win it." Sophomore Dillon Royster (11th, 18:06.6, Wyatt's brother), junior Nick Newman (14th, 18:11.9) and sophomore Nicholas Kostecki (18th, 18:27.3) rounded out the Pirates' top five. "I'm in tears. I'm excited for them," Black River coach Coleen Lahood Briggs said. "Jared broke his curse he's had at the end of the season where he's had a struggle. Wyatt poured it on. I feel fantastic. The kids are healthy now. I'm just ecstatic for them moving forward." The district title is the Black River boys' fourth, having also won in 1969 and '73 when it was called sectionals. Individually, Columbia senior Madeleine Finton and Open Door junior Michael Couture were runners-up in their Division III races. Finton was second to Rittman junior Pyper Gibson for the second year in a row, 19:26.2 to 20:03.0. Couture was second to Waynedale senior Jonathan Varner, 17:06.7 to 17:30.1. Varner was defending champ. Columbia senior Sam Sikorski (17:36.7) was a close third. It was a bit of a bittersweet day for Finton, who defeated Pyper three times this season in meets at Boardman, Seneca East and Black River. "I really don't know what happened out there," Finton said. "Not a good race for me. I got stuck in no man's land. Not as good as I wanted to do at all. She pulled away in the first mile before the hill and I couldn't match the energy." The Columbia girls advanced to regionals for the second straight year, taking fifth of the five qualifiers. "My goal was to stick behind him (Varner)," said Couture, who took third last year. "I tried to stay connected and beat him at the end, but I'm happy with second." Avon was Lorain County's top girls team finisher in Division I, taking third with 127 points behind Medina (100) and Brunswick (101). Avon Lake (244) and Amherst (252) placed eighth and ninth to also advance. Brunswick, Medina and Avon were rated Nos. 9, 10 and 22 in the state. Eagles sophomore Maddie Harrington (10th, 19:45.7) smoked the LCCC course, beating herbest on the course by 33 seconds. Freshman Anika Singh (16th, 20:07.5) was the No. 2 runner for the Eagles, who advanced to regionals for the eighth year in a row. "It felt fast, especially my finish," Harrington said. "It took everything I had left and pushed. I think we all pushed it as hard as we could. Anika bounced back amazing after being sick all last week. She had a great race." Senior Stephen Faltay (fifth, 17:02.9), a state qualifier last year, helped Keystone to its second straight regional berth. The Wildcats placed sixth out of the seven regional qualifiers in Division II. "Today was perfect," Faltay said. "The course was muddy and the temperatures were nice and cool. I started off the first mile in 15th place. In the second mile I had a group of people right in front of me so I knew I had to go for it. I put in a surge and moved up to about sixth place. This course is known for the two hills (Mount Washka, twice). The first time it hits you, the second time it kills you." In the Division II girls race, Brookside junior Madison Palmer finished eighth (20:21.7) to qualify for regionals for the third year in a row. For the first time since 2005, no Lorain County boys team advanced in Division I as Avon Lake (259) and Amherst (262) just missed. Revere (249) grabbed the eighth and final qualifying spot. Amherst's Luke Bowlsby (fifth, 16:33.1) and Ty Perez (10th, 16:42.2) qualified to regionals for the second straight year as individuals. Avon Lake seniors Matt Henry (17th, 16:58.5) and Adam Dixon (28th, 17:13.7) also qualified. "I'm extremely happy with how I ran. I finished better than I expected," Bowlsby said. "My time was 30 seconds better than conference. I'm just truly blessed and thankful for this." "Me and Luke went out very hard the first 400 meters," Perez said. "That set us for the rest of the race. Luke did a very good job staying out there. I fell off a little bit but I made sure I made some of it up at the end." "It was certainly a lot better than last week," Henry said of the course. "A lot of the same areas that were muddy for the SWC meet weren't as muddy and there wasn't any standing water on the course, so it wasn't as mentally tough this time." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. BOYS Division I Top eight teams, top 32 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. St. Edward, 99; 2. Medina, 113; 3. Brunswick, 118; 4. Medina Highland, 160; 5. Strongsville, 162; 6. Rocky River, 180; 7. Westlake, 228; 8. Revere, 249. Local teams: 9. Avon Lake, 259; 10. Amherst, 262; 15. Avon, 392; 17. North Ridgeville, 464; 19. Midview, 509; 22. Elyria, 607. Out of 24 teams. Lorain had an incomplete team Winner: Luke Ondracek (Walsh Jesuit), 15:49.0 Local individual qualifiers: 5. Luke Bowlsby (Amherst), 16:33.1; 10. Ty Perez (Amherst), 16:42.2; 17. Matt Henry (Avon Lake), 16:58.5; 25. Matthew Bowman (North Ridgeville), 17:13.1; 28. Adam Dixon (Avon Lake), 17:13.7 Division II Top seven teams, top 28 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Woodridge, 46; 2. Cloverleaf, 88; 3. CVCA, 99; 4. Bay, 100; 5. Fairview, 144; 6. Keystone, 158; 7. Beachwood, 220. Other local teams: 9. Firelands, 258; 17. Brookside, 465; 20. Clearview, 611. Out of 20 teams. Winner: Drennan Akins (CVCA), 16:29.7 Local INDIVIDUAL qualifiers: 5. Stephen Faltay (Keystone), 17:02.9; 19. Jackson Hartung (Firelands), 17:49.5; 25. Anthony Januzzi (Firelands), 17:57.2 Division III Top four teams, top 16 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Black River, 52; 2. Smithville, 106; 3. Open Door, 109; 4. Dalton, 113; 5. Mapleton, 135. Other local teams: 6. Columbia, 182; 8. Lake Ridge, 216; 11. Elyria Catholic, 270; 15. Wellington, 444. Out of 14 complete teams. Winner: Johnathan Varner (Waynedale), 17:06.7 Local individual qualifiers: 2. Michael Couture (Open Door), 17:30.1; 3. Sam Sikorski (Columbia), 17:36.7; 4. Jared Bradford (Black River), 17:38.0; 5. Wyatt Royster (Black River), 17:40.4; 10. Andrew Young (Lake Ridge), 17:59.7; 11. Dillon Royster (Black River), 18:11.9; 14. Nick Newman (Black River), 18:11.9; 15. Ethan Zientarski (EC), 18:13.1; 16. Teddy Murphy (Open Door), 18:16.7 GIRLS Division I Top nine teams, top 36 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Medina, 100; 2. Brunswick, 101; 3. Avon, 127; 4. Rocky River, 129; 5. Westlake, 139; 6. Strongsville, 184; 7. Bay, 203; 8. Avon Lake, 244; 9. Amherst, 252; 10. Brecksville, 264. Other local teams: 19. Midview, 513; 21. North Ridgeville, 592. Out of 22 teams. Elyria and Lorain had incomplete teams. Winner: Katie Clute (Olmsted Falls), 18:17.6 Local individual qualifiers: 10. Maddie Harrington (Avon), 19:45.7; 16. Anika Singh (Avon), 20:07.5; 21. Catherine Turner (Amherst), 20:16.4; 22. Liz White (Avon), 20:17.4; 23. Kylie Bennington (Avon Lake), 20:22.5; 26. Kate Leininger (Avon Lake), 20:28.6; 28. Carolina Reed (Avon), 20:30.4; 30. Audrey Sanzone (Midview), 20:35.2; 35. Aurora Wilson (Amherst), 20:38.3 Division II Top seven teams, top 28 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Woodridge, 45; 2. Hathaway Brown, 77; 3. Revere, 85; 4. Cloverleaf, 131; 5. Beaumont, 151; 6. CVCA, 159; 7. Holy Name, 180. Local teams: 11. Brookside, 296; 13. Firelands, 341; 15. Clearview, 466. Out of 15 teams. Keystone had an incomplete team. Winner: Morgan Monesmith (Hathaway Brown), 18:45.0 Local individual qualifier: 8. Madison Palmer (Brookside), 20:21.7 Division III Top five teams, top 20 individuals advance to Boardman regional, Oct. 30 TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Waynedale, 37; 2. Rittman, 75; 3. Dalton, 85; 4. Loudonville, 122; 5. Columbia, 142; 6. Mapleton, 147. Other local teams: 11. Elyria Catholic, 264; 12. Wellington, 309. Out of 12 teams. Black River, Wellington. Lake Ridge and Oberlin had incomplete teams. Winner: Pyper Gibson (Rittman), 19:26.2Local individual qualifiers: 2. Madeleine Finton (Columbia), 20:03.0; 9. Maria Gilles (Lake Ridge), 21:46.3; 13. Olivia Szmania (Black River), 22:10.7