Reaman rolls as Woodridge cross country sweeps district titles

Reese Reaman showed why she is one of Ohio’s premiere cross country runners as the Woodridge junior outclassed the field to capture the individual championship at the northeast Ohio District Championship meet in Division II as Woodridge won the girls as well as the boys team titles in Elyria.

Crossing with a time of 19-minutes and 29.20 seconds, Reaman captured the individual crown at the Lorain County Community College district meet.

Reaman helped the Woodridge girls to a team crown while the Bulldog boys also won team honors as senior Seth Singer shined as the second overall finisher in the district competition.

Woodridge was set to compete at the Boardman Division II Regional championships this weekend.

“The boys are currently ranked seventh in Ohio and will compete at Boardman in hopes of earning a 19th consecutive state berth,” said Woodridge head coach Jeff Howard. “The state’s 12th-ranked girls’ squad raced for a shot at a 17th consecutive berth to Ohio’s state championship meet in Obetz, Ohio.”

Howard loved what he saw in the districts as his runners continue to strive to improve in their annual post season push.

“Reese Reaman ran away from over 100 girls to win the individual district championship and pace the Bulldogs to their third consecutive team title,” said Howard. “The squad edged a strong Bay Village team by four points to grab the win.”

Reaman ran away with bragging rights as she beat Bay senior standout Maeve Ransom, who had a time of 19:42.10.

Sophomore flash Marissa Boone was exceptional as she ran behind Ransom for third place overall with a time of 19:57.20.

Behind a 61-second improvement from her 2021 race, Boone edged Buckeye senior Audrey Graham (20:01.04) and Brookside senior Madison Palmer (20:03.80).

“Marissa Boone continued her phenomenal season with a third-place finish,” commented Howard.

Howard saw key races turned in by veterans like Eloise Willett, Joy McFarland, and Kathryn Kiley to make the title possible – edging 13th-ranked Bay 47-51, along with league runner up and 22nd ranked Lodi Cloverleaf (78), plus state-ranked clubs Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown (117) and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (122).

“Eloise raced well and finished eighth overall,” said Howard. “Joy continued a great fall and was 27th in the race. Kathryn continued her late-season surge with a 33rd place finish.”

Willett’s clocking was 20:30.50 as the junior beat last years’ time by 12 ticks and is coming on.

McFarland and Kiley are veteran seniors who were timed at 21:09.10 and 21:51.50, respectively.

“Regan Smith finished as the eighth freshman in the district field while Ruby Wuscher finished 42nd overall to round out the varsity seven,” remarked Hoard.

Smith finished 36th overall in 22:58 while Wuscher’s time was 23:20.60 as the sophomore is also coming on.

The Bulldog boys’ title saw Woodridge edge neighboring rival CVCA 48-66, along with Bay (80). Woodridge also beat league rival Cloverleaf (119) and Fairview Park (137) in the 20-team field in Elyria.

A victory over CVCA was critical as the Royals were ranked eighth in Ohio while Bay is ranked 14th in the state.

“On a great day to race, the boys grabbed their fifth consecutive district title,” declared Howard.

Singer was outstanding as the only runner to beat him was Fairview Park senior Ben Myers, who won his third consecutive race in 16:45.10. Singer’s time was 16:54.30, which was 28 seconds faster than his 2021 district race time.

“Seth ran well to lead the Bulldogs with a runner up finish,” commented Howard. “Sam Su and Robbie Champa finished 3-4 to dominate the front of the race.”

A junior, Su raced third overall for the Bulldogs with a mark of 16:58.70.

Champa is a battle-tested senior and he finished fourth out of 133 runners with a clocking of 17:08.70, which was 36 seconds faster than his district race last season.

Finishing next for the Woodridge boys was Steven Duffy, a junior, followed by classmate Harvey Kever.

“Steven continued his late-season surge to finish 17th while Harvey rounded out the scoring five with a 21st place finish,” expressed Howard.

Duffy’s time was 17:50.6 while Kever crossed in 17:58.5 for the Bulldogs.

“Ben LeBay and Josh Stetler completed the varsity seven with strong races,” said Howard. “Ben was the fourth freshman in the race while Josh Stetler (a junior) ran well to finish 33rd.”

Registering a time of 18:16.7, LeBay had a fine post season debut while Stetler was timed at 18:20.6.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Woodridge cross country sweeps district titles at Lorain