High school cross country: Black River boys headed back to state; Avon girls qualify for first time since 2007

BOARDMAN — After ending a 48-year drought last season, the Black River boys cross country team is making this state-qualifying stuff a habit. For the second straight year, the Pirates finished second at the Division III Boardman regional on Saturday to advance to next weekend's state meet. They won't be the only Lorain County team at state though. The Avon girls qualified for the first time since 1988 with a third-place finish out of eight qualifying teams in Division I. The last time the Eagles qualified it was as a Division III school under veteran coach Jim Reynolds. The Eagles are the first Lorain County Division I girls team to qualify to state since Amherst in 2007. Last year, the Black River boys finished second to No. 1-ranked East Canton, 37-92. Saturday it was No. 4-rated Maplewood that was just a little bit better than No. 7-ranked Black River, 80-98. The Royster brothers, senior Wyatt and junior Dillon, led the Pirates as they have all season. Wyatt finished eighth out of 108 runners in a time of 17:06.0, while Dillon was 18th in 17:27.4. While both were satisfied to be heading back to state, neither appeared happy with their individual efforts. "It's all right, but I just wished we could have won," Wyatt said. "I'm not sure what happened exactly. I felt fine going into the finish. It just wasn't our day. I wanted to win." "Not exactly what we wanted or what I wanted," Dillon said. "I was about eight places behind of what I should have been. I really cramped up after the 2-mile. It's just an excuse. I shouldn't have been that far back." Senior Nick Newman (21st, 17:31.9), junior Nicholas Kostecki (30th, 17:52.6) and junior Christian Orgel (56th, 18:43.4) rounded out the Pirates' top five. "It's a team effort. It's not just one guy," Black River coach Patrick Brean said. "But we talk about the team. You're a domino. Each guy's a domino. We go down together. The guys ran great. Back-to-back to state you can't complain about that. I'm proud of them. Our big goal was win it. We came up short, but to be back to state and come home with a trophy is a special thing. We're going to celebrate tonight and get back to work on Monday." The Avon girls fell back to No. 12 in last week's Division I state poll after being No. 5 most of the season. The big poll drop was due to a fourth-place finish at the Elyria district Oct. 22 behind No. 3 Westlake, No. 8 Medina and unranked Revere. The Eagles redeemed themselves Saturday, totaling 157 points to finish behind only No. 3 Westlake (63) and No. 6 Shaker Heights (125), while finishing one point better than No. 8 Medina. Freshman Kaitlyn Reese (sixth, 19:10.3) and junior Maddie Harrington (12th, 19:28.8) led the way for the Eagles. "This is something we've been waiting for since June 13," Reese said. "We've been working very hard. The feeling is amazing." Avon missed the eighth and final state-qualifying berth last year by only six points. "We're all so happy," said Harrington, an individual state qualifier a year ago. "All of our hard work seemed to pay off. After what happened last year we've been really working to get it (to state). It stung in the moment, but when that happened we all said we're going to do it this year. That belief never stopped. We never had doubt. I'm still in shock. I'm so happy for this team because we've really worked out butts off. I feel like we really earned it today." Freshman Maddie Gettings (39th, 20:24.8), sophomore Carolina Reed (53rd, 20:36.9) and junior Anna Argabright (68th, 20:52.2) rounded out Avon's top five. "I'm very content," Avon girls coach Justin Carroll said. "Today was just all about being in the top eight. Today they executed. I'm very proud of them. It's been a long time coming. They believed since last year that they could do it. They did not give up. They believe in me but they also believe in themselves. It's never going to be easy in any sport. There's always going to be challenges. Today was a great example of how not to let adversity bring you down." Lorain County also had individual success as Open Door senior Michael Couture and Brookside senior Madison Palmer both earned their third trips to state. Couture finished fourth for the second year in a row out of 16 Division III individual state qualifiers with a time of 16:31.6. Palmer placed sixth out of 24 Division II individual state qualifiers in 19:52.6. "It's not what I wanted and it wasn't what the team wanted (seventh place), but we gave it our all so that's all that mattered," said Couture, an All-Ohio (top 30) runner last year. "I didn't feel terrible. I gave it all I had. I ended up falling short at the end but I have one last chance next weekend to make it happen. That's what I'm looking for." "I'm very happy with my performance," Palmer said. "That's one of the best kicks I've ever had. I just knew that I had only one more chance at this (qualifying to state). I really wanted to qualify. I was in a weird mental state all week. It was like I almost couldn't register it was coming up. It kept my stress levels down so I wasn't really worried. I tried to mentally visualize the race Friday. Today I took some time and mentally prepared. I'm very proud." It was a bit of mixed emotions for the Amherst boys team. Junior Luke Bowlsby advanced to state with a top-28 finish, plaving 25th in a time of 16:30.1. Classmate Ty Perez came up one place shy, finishing 29th in 16:34.6, less than one second behind the final qualifier, Lakewood's Charles Payne (16:33.7). Bowlsby and Perez were both state qualifiers as freshmen and both barely missed last year. Perez was 34th and Bowlsby 41st last year, missing the state cutoff of top 32. "I was very proud with how I had to close," Bowlsby said. "I just kept telling myself that I had to make it. Last year, I just lost a lot of energy the last mile and lost 10 to 20 places. It felt very sweet to move up in that last mile today." Wellington sophomore Joe Fox became the Dukes' first state qualifier since Eric Evans in 2000, finishing 11th out of 16 qualifiers in Division III in 17:08.2. Fox was sidelined four weeks with a stress fracture in his second metatarsal in his left foot leading up to the Lorain County League meet Oct. 15 . "I'm just glad to be going to state," Fox said. "It wasn't what I expected when I woke up this morning. The injury definitely affected my running, but I made it. I'm just happy to be here." "Joe was determined from the beginning to be in the top 16," Wellington coach Jeff Hook said. "He stuck to his plan and ran a good hard race. (Assistamt coach Nathan) Morris and I are proud of the way he gutted it out through the pain of his injury and qualified for state." Senior Aurora Wilson earned the Amherst girls' first state berth since Alexis Szivan in 2014 by taking 15th out of 32 qualifiers in Division I in 19:32.7. Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Boys Division I Top seven teams, top 28 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Massillon Jackson, 124; 2. Massillon Perry, 152; 3. Medina, 167; 4. Green, 174; 5. GlenOak, 178; 6. Chardon, 183; 7. Medina Highland, 216; 8. Rocky River, 221; 9. Hoover, 246; 10. Solon, 250 Winner: Tommy Rice (GlenOak), 15:45.7 Local qualifier: 25. Luke Bowlsby (Amherst), 16:30.1 Other local runners: 29. Ty Perez (Amherst), 16:34.6; 90. Jared Robinson (Midview), 17:38.9; 96. Lucas Edgell (Midview), 17:43.2; 100. Bradan Schnabal (Avon Lake), 17:47.1; 138. Liam Noss (Avon Lake), 18:09.5; 141. Zachary Janus (Midview), 18:12.8; 150. Henry Isaacs (Amherst), 18:18.9; 151. Ben Susi (Amherst), 18:19.0; 152. Jacob Michalak (Amherst), 18:19.8; 167. Asa Nicely (Amherst), 18:35.1; 172. Matthew Walker (Amherst), 18:45.5. Out of 193 runners. Division II Top six teams, top 24 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Marlington, 37; 2. Woodridge, 103; 3. Hawken, 118; 4. West Geauga, 118; 5. CVCA, 160; 6. Kenston, 190; 7. Bay, 202; 8. NDCL, 221; 9. Lakeview, 266; 10. Fairview, 266; 18. Keystone, 436 Winner: Colin Cernansky (Marlington), 15:47.2 Local runners: 55. Micheal Gale (Keystone), 17:51.9; 84. Michael Spatafore (Keystone), 18:14.2; 94. Thomas Moore (Elyria Catholic), 18:25.5; 121. Cody Grimmet (Keystone), 19:00.7; 122. Roy Herbold (Keystone), 19:01.0; 123. Evander Feador (Keystone), 19:01.8; 128. Craig Stroud (Keystone), 19:10.8; 144. Carter Taylor (Keystone), 20:34.4. Out of 148 runners. Division III Top four teams, top 16 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Maplewood, 90; 2. Black River, 98; 3. East Canton, 102; 4. McDonald, 105; 5. Rittman, 113; 6. Mineral Ridge, 143; 7. Open Door Christian, 152; 8. Canton Central Catholic, 198; 9. Waynedale, 222; 10. Mogadore, 245 Winner: Luke Snyder (Rittman), 16:05.3 Local qualifiers: 4. Michael Couture (Open Door), 16:31.6; 8. Wyatt Royster (Black River), 17:06.0; 11. Joe Fox (Wellington), 17:08.2 Other local runners: 18. Dillon Royster (Black River), 17:27.4; 21. Nick Newman (Black River), 17:31.9; 27. Nolan Raack (Open Door), 17:48.3; 30. Nicholas Kostecki (Black River), 17:52.6; 38. Anthony Januzzi (Open Door), 18:04.9; 40. Andrew Young (Lake Ridge), 18:09.9; 55. Jack Mungle (Open Door), 18:43.2; 56. Christian Orgel (Black River), 18:43.4; 76. Aleksander Boardwine (Open Door), 19:11.5; 77. Nate Otero (Open Door), 19:11.9; 91. Noah Orgel (Black River), 19:49.6; 92. Joe Yarham (Open Door), 19:55.5; 99. Blake Bruno (Black River), 21:03.5. Out of 108 runners. GIRLS Division I Top eight teams, top 32 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Westlake, 63; 2. Shaker Heights, 125; 3. Avon, 157; 4. Medina, 158; 5. Rocky River, 192; 6. Revere, 209; 7. Mentor, 224; 8. St. Joseph Academy, 246; 9. Brunswick, 284; 10. Massillon Jackson, 329; 15. Amherst, 363 Winner: Katie Clute (Olmsted Falls), 17:40.2 Local qualifiers: 6. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon), 19:10.3; 12. Maddie Harrington (Avon), 19:28.8; 15. Aurora Wilson (Amherst), 19:32.7 Other local runners: 39. Maddie Gettings (Avon), 20:24.8; 53. Carolina Reed (Avon), 20:36.9; 62. Catherine Turner (Amherst), 20:44.0; 64. Katherine Low (Amherst), 20:45.9; 68. Anna Argabright (Avon), 20:50.2; 114. Anika Singh (Avon), 21:27.2; 124. Sarah Pomfrey (Avon), 21:35.1; 135. Sophia Pecora (Amherst), 21:47.8; 140. Winter Carrell (Amherst), 21:50.0; 160. Alaina Alflen (Amherst), 22:18.5; 189. Kaitlyn Meyer (Amherst), 24:59.3. Out of 189 runners Division II Top six teams, top 24 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Kenston, 108; 2. Bay, 109; 3. Woodridge, 113; 4. Salem, 153; 5. Cloverleaf, 173; 6. Perry, 190; 7. Akron SVSM, 256; 8. Tallmadge, 262; 9. Hathaway Brown, 265; 10. CVCA, 296 Winner: Bella Graham (Marlington), 18:42.7 Local qualifier: 6. Madison Palmer (Brookside), 19:52.6. Out of 152 runners. Division IIITop four teams, top 16 individuals advance to state meet at Fortress Obetz on Saturday TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Mogadore, 62; 2. Norwayne, 83; 3. McDonald, 107; 4. Dalton, 107; 5. Rittman, 126; 6. Garretsville Garfield, 160; 7. Kirtland, 165Winner: Megan Hipple (McDonald), 18:14.7 Local runner: 51. Olivia Szmania (Black River), 22:24.9. Out of 103 runners.