Cross Country: Lake Ridge's Christian Gorny, Avon's Jose Alvelo pick up seconds at Earlybird

ELYRIA — Lorain County boys posted strong numbers once again Saturday at the 46th annual Avon Lake Earlybird Invitational at Lorain County Community College. Seniors Christian Gorny of Lake Ridge and Jose Alvelo of Avon earned second-place honors in the gold (Division II, III and IV schools) and maroon (primarily Division I with a few Division II and III size schools) divisions. Gorny clocked a personal best for the course (16:59.0) as he placed 1.1 seconds behind Copley junior Brayden Malpass (16:57.9) in a field of 86 runners. Alvelo went 16:32.7, finishing behind Perkins junior Joel Smelcer (16:18.5) in a field of 167. The Avon Lake and Keystone boys were the top local maroon division teams. The Shoremen (137) and Wildcats (152) finished third and fourth behind Shaker Heights (128) and St. Edward (132) in a 20-team field. Lake Ridge (101) and Oberlin (102) were the top local boys gold teams at third and fourth in an 11-team field. Gorny was denied the chance for Lorain County history as the first local boy to repeat as an Earlybird winner. Last year Gorny (17:10.4) won convincingly over Vermilion senior Joseph Webb (17:43.7). "I made two mistakes," said Gorny. "I made one move too early and one too late. First one was at the 2-mile when I committed too early when I decided to take the lead. I let him take it (the lead) back right before the hill. My plan was to take the lead back with a half-mile left. His strategy was exactly the same thing. He's got very good closing speed, especially coming into the final straightaway. "Overall I'm pretty happy with this race. It's a personal-best time for me for this course. I'm hoping to replicate this time when it comes to districts." Gorny and Malpass had never met head-to-head. Copley competed in the maroon race last year and Malpass placed 14th in 17:26.9. "I have to give him some credit," said Malpass. "We were just working together pushing each other. I knew it was going to be a hard race so I just focused on my placement. I took the lead going up the hill on the second lap and used that momentum to the finish line. That last straightaway was just all out until the finish line. I knew if I let up in the slightest he'd be there right there on me." Alvelo was upbeat about his performance. He missed last year's Earlybird and was 30th in 18:18.0 in 2023. "It was a great race," said Alvelo. "Our team isn't the biggest fan of this course but I think it's that perfect middle ground from those fast courses and courses like Boardman. I don't mind it that much. It felt very good. "My mentality is a lot better this year. If I can keep my mind on the race, I can do so much better. I've been healthy. I've been eating good. I've been lifting. No major aches and pains. Senior year so it's my last year. You have to put everything into it." The Avon Lake boys had a nice uptick in performance after taking 12th last year and eighth in 2023. Juniors Niko Koutouras (17:24.4) and Alex Shultz (17:25.5) led the Shoremen as they finished 12th and 15th. A year ago Koutouras finished 73rd in 19:18.5. "It felt good. Everyone was running together," said Koutouras. "I was with my teammate Alex Shultz for most of the race. This is the best team I've seen in my few years with the program. We're running very fast and everybody is working hard." Sophomore Luke Gunter (24th, 17:46.9) and seniors Ian Fababe (37th, 18:06.5) and Nathan Grieger (49th, 18:29.1) rounded out the Avon Lake top five. "I'm happy," said Avon Lake coach Rob Juergens. "We were missing a guy but we're making good strides and we're way better than last year. Niko had a PR, which on this course for this time of year is good. He's come a long way." Sophomore Jamie Yuronich led the Keystone boys as he finished seventh in 16:55.2. A year ago he finished fourth in the gold division in 18:03.6. "It went very well," said Yuronich. "I PR'd by 10 seconds. What really helped me was by staying with the top pack and working to move up. I really wanted to PR today. I've been really looking to break 17 flat and I'm just glad that I could finally do that today." Senior Eli McConoughey (14th, 17:25.1), junior Craig Stroud (18th, 17:34.8), sophomore Sam McConoughey (39th, 17:56.1) and senior Roy Herold (83rd, 19:23.2) rounded out the Wildcats' top five. Junior Cassidy Valerino led the Avon Lake girls to an eighth-place finish out of 18 teams in the maroon race. Valerino finished eighth of 141 runners in 20:12.2, more than a two-minute improvement over 2024. "My coaches had a plan to make my mile splits more even and I think I did that and I also PR'd," said Valerino. "The hill the second time was very hard. I really had to push myself to speed up on the downhill. It's nice that the finish is only 800 meters after the hill so I can really use the power. Today was both a course best and personal best." Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Maroon Division Boys1. Shaker Heights, 128; 2. St. Edward, 132; 3. Avon Lake, 137; 4. Keystone, 152; 5. Lakewood, 157; 6. Bay, 173; 7. Avon, 196; 8. Westlake, 203; 9. Buckeye, 220; 10. Huron, 236; 11. North Olmsted, 245; 12. Perkins, 251; 13. North Royalton, 313; 14. Nordonia, 349; 15. Elyria Catholic, 373; 16. Normandy, 402; 17. Padua, 428; 18. Firelands, 453; 19. Valley Forge, 609; 20. Lorain, 659Top 31. Joel Smelcer (Perkins), 16:18.5; 2. Jose Alvelo (Avon), 16:32.7; 3. Jacob Newman (St. Edward), 16:33.7Other top local runners: 12. Niko Koutouras (Avon Lake), 17:24.4; 14. Eli McConoughey (Keystone), 17:25.1; 15. Alex Shultz (Avon Lake), 17:25.5; 21. Owen Burns (Avon), 17:38.3; 24. Luke Gunter (Avon Lake), 17:46.9; 30. Sam McConoughey (Keystone), 17:56.1; 32. Dane Vanderpool (Firelands), 17:56.8; 33. Ian Pallardy (Elyria Catholic), 17:59.7; 37. Ian Fababe (Avon Lake), 18:06.5; 39. Luke Jones (Elyria Catholic), 18:08.0; 47. Carter Woods (Firelands), 18:25.6; 48. Joel Morgan (Avon), 18:28.4; 49. Nathan Grieger (Avon Lake), 18:29.1. Out of 167 runners. Girls1. Hathaway Brown, 34; 2. Bay, 73; 3. St. Joseph Academy, 91; 4. Huron, 103; 5. Magnificat, 140; 6. Shaker Heights, 156; 7. North Royalton, 250; 8. Avon Lake, 250; 9. Beaumont, 268; 10. Lakewood, 308; 11. Buckeye, 312; 12. Padua, 314; 13. Firelands, 378; 14. Normandy, 397; 15. Nordonia, 411; 16. Keystone, 474; 17. Elyria Catholic, 480; 18. Lorain, 485Top 31, Anna Prusak (Hathaway Brown), 18:39.7; 2. Maya Gonzalez (Bay), 19:31.6; 3. Rylie Towns (Huron), 19:42.0Top local runners: 8. Cassidy Valerino (Avon Lake), 20:12.2; 27. Kelsey Sheehan (Avon Lake), 21:30.3; 47. Dilynn Copley (Firelands), 22:32.5. Out of 141 runners. GoldBoys1. Copley, 30; 2. Independence, 89; 3. Lake Ridge Academy, 101; 4. Oberlin, 102; 5. Fairview, 110; 6. Westside Christian Academy, 153; 7. Willard, 203; 8. Lutheran West, 212; 9. Brookside, 223; 10. Keystone, 272; 11. Benedictine, 286Top 31. Brayden Malpass (Copley), 16:57.9; 2. Christian Gorny (Lake Ridge), 16:59.0; 3. Mitchell Creel (Independence), 17:35.9Other top local runners: 13. Alexander Perales (Oberlin), 18:50.2; 17. Brandon Bertoni (Oberlin), 18:58.6; 21. Grant Abeyta (Oberlin), 19:16.1; 27. Mason LaScola (Brookside), 19:41.5; 30. Zane Palmer (Brookside), 19:46.2; 31. Arjun Gupta (Lake Ridge), 19:47.7; 36. Mason Graf (Lake Ridge), 20:07.2; 38. Zohair Khan (Lake Ridge), 20:14.0; 40. Collin Boardman (Oberlin), 20:17.04; 45. Grant Brezinski (Brookside), 20:40.1. Out of 86 runners Girls1. Copley, 36; 2. Willard, 91; 3. Fairview, 92; 4. Oberlin, 93; 5. Westside Christian Academy, 104; 6. Independence, 132; 7. Lake Ridge Academy, 161; 8. Vermilion, 237Top 31. Kaylee Ingratta (Copley), 20:06.5; 2. Leah Creel (Independence), 21:40.5; 3. Maddie Moore (Westside Christian), 21:53.8Top local runners: 12. Olivia Hudson (Oberlin), 23:21.2; 13. Aubrey Abeyta (Oberlin), 23:21.9; 14. Emma Calkins (Lake Ridge), 23:31.9; 19. Lily Shmois (Lake Ridge), 24:20.4; 21. Rose Marie Boyer (Oberlin), 24:23.5; 22. Courage Bielawski (Oberlin), 24:24.3; 25. Phoebe Shuck (Oberlin), 24:31.3; 41. Molly Caldwell-Kepner (Oberlin), 25:57.0; 43. Zeali Overstreet (Lake Ridge), 26:53.7; 44. Kathryn Krueger (Lake Ridge), 27:41.0; 48. Kola Johnson (Vermilion), 28:33.8. Out of 61 runners