3-peat: Shelby's Finnegan, Gonzales win Richland County Cross Country Invite titles, again
MADISON TOWNSHIP — Shelby seniors Huck Finnegan and Kayla Gonzales have made it an annual tradition.
"It" being starting off their cross country seasons with Richland County Invite championships.
For the third time in their careers, Finnegan and Gonzales laid claim to individual championships Monday at Madison High School. Finnegan won his third consecutive title while Gonzales won the meet her freshman, junior and senior years.
Finnegan ran a 17:31.2 after clocking a 17:12.7 in last year's Richland County meet. Not worried too much about time this early in the season, he was mostly concentrating on finishing at the front of the pack, especially with Lexington joining the race this year.
"I know I am fit, but I just wanted to win it," Finnegan said. "We will cut down on time in the next few races. It was great to go against some good competition with Lexington here. We will see them again on Saturday at Seneca East. My plan was to stick with them and see what they were going to do. The sophomore stuck with me but it felt good."
Lexington's Joey Aquino finished in second with a 17:53.0, while Shelby's Luke Dininger was third in 17:59.5 and Lexington's Chance Basilone fourth in 18:05.5. Shelby's Indy Mayer (18:13.12), Shelby's Marshall Moore (18:16.3) and Lexington's Latrell Hughes (18:29.8) rounded out the top seven runners.
Last year, Shelby finished with a perfect 15 points by grabbing the first 10 spots of the race. Lexington brought the competition but it was Shelby that took the team title with 24 points ahead of second-place Lexington (36). Crestview finished in third with 103 while Clear Fork (108) and Madison (111) rounded out the team scoring.
Finnegan said he liked how his team performed with the overall win over a Richland County rival.
"I think we swept it last year and I didn't think we could beat that because that was insane, but I think we are definitely fit," Finnegan said.
The weather conditions were perfect, much better than last year's scorcher and the times showed.
"The race is good to start the season off with and today was nice because of the cloud cover," Finnegan said. "The first mile and a half were so nice. We never have weather like this for Richland County."
Gonzales agreed. She loved the weather so much that it helped her lower her Richland County Invite personal record by more than a minute. She ran away with the individual title with a blistering 19:37.3, nearly a minute ahead of the pack and the only runner under 20 minutes. Last year, she won the individual championship with a 20:46.6.
"Definitely," Gonzales said in response to how she liked the weather. "This is the first year we raced and it wasn't 90 and sunny with super humidity. They were perfect conditions.
"We never go for time in this race, but it is a meet PR for me. I just judge my performance based on last year, and this was a big improvement."
Shelby finished second as a team with 58 points behind team champion Lexington, which posted a near-perfect 20.
"I was very excited for the competition from the Lexington runners," Gonzales said. "I was ready for them and kept looking back just to make sure my placement was good. It is always great competition when you run against them. I wanted to start out fast and not get boxed in. I felt strong right away so I wanted to see how I would do if I took it out strong. My first mile was quicker than I wanted it to be."
Lexington's Emma Wise finished in second with a 20:31.5, while Elyana Weaver was third in 21:17.1. Brailey Slone (fourth, 21:48.7), Kenley Miller (fifth, 21:49.7) and Maddie Haring (sixth, 22:02.4) rounded out the top five runners for Lady Lex.
Gonzales was thrilled to finish off her career as a three-time Richland County individual champion.
"It feels great," she said. "That is the goal going into each year is to win this first meet. You go out for placement in this race, and I felt good today."
Shelby's Emma Montgomery placed well for the Whippets, taking seventh with a 22:10.6. Crestview's Audrey Wolford (eighth, 22:33.9), Leyna Gerich (ninth, 22:50.6) and Alina Durbin (12th, 23:32.8) added nice finishes for the Cougars, while Madison's Callie Cyrus (11th, 23:24.7) paced the Rams and Claire Blubaugh (25th, 25:44.5) was the top runner for Clear Fork.
In the boys race, Crestview's Cooper Brockway was the top performer for the Cougars, running an 18:30.5 to place eighth and break up the Lexington-Shelby party. Madison's Wyatt Rivers was 18th in 20:07.8 and Clear Fork's Ben Wallis finished 33rd in 22:09.5 to pace the Colts.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Shelby's Huck Finnegan, Kayla Gonzales win Richland County XC titles
