Woodridge cross country prepares for postseason at Medina

A strong pack of runners excelled at the Medina Cross Country Festival for Woodridge in boys and girls action as the Bulldogs prepped for the league championship meet.

This was the second year of the Medina Festival meet honoring late Medina coach Milt Place and the Woodridge athletes responded well to a chilly morning.

Veteran Bulldog head coach Jeff Howard was looking for his teams to challenge for MAC titles, but also had plenty to say about the meet in Medina.

“Milt passed away unexpectedly before the 2021 cross country season and he was a dear friend and an incredible coach at Medina High School,” said Howard.

Woodridge, Ohio’s sixth-ranked boys’ team in Division II, held its own against six state-ranked Division I clubs.

“The boys raced well and grabbed a slew of lifetime best performances on their way to a fifth-place finish in the Division I race,” said Howard.

Host Medina, ranked ninth in Division I, won the team crown with 85 points ahead of Green 111, Medina Highland 119, North Canton Hoover 136, Woodridge 155, and Revere (216).

In the girls’ standings, 13th-ranked Woodridge finished fifth overall among 24 schools with a strong showing.

Avon, ranked fifth in Ohio in Division I beat eighth-ranked Medina for the team title, 66-93.

Rocky River was third at 142 points, followed by Hudson 161, Woodridge 181, Brunswick 185, Brecksville 194 and Rocky River Magnificat (194).

“The girls competed well in the big school division,” said Howard.

Once again, the Bulldog boys were led by Seth Singer. He raced eighth overall out of 235 runners with a fast time of 16-minutes and 14.2 seconds.

“Seth Singer, Sam Su, and Robbie Champa each finished among the top 20 runners to pace the squad,” said Howard.

Crossing 15th overall, Su was clocked at 16:29.6 while Champa was 19th overall with a blazing time of 16:38.2.

Singer was 30 seconds faster than his 2021 time in the race while Su was 43 ticks faster and Champa was a whopping 50 seconds faster this fall.

“Steven Duffy and Harvey Kever had great days to complete the scoring five for Woodridge,” said Howard. “Freshmen Ben LeBay and Atticus Sloan rounded out the varsity seven while Kendall McAllister and Cameron Boone each had great days in the big race.”

Duffy crossed 43rd overall in 17:16.1, Kever ran 57th in 17:17, LeBay was 95th in 17:43.3 and Sloan was 127th overall in 18:04.1.

For the Woodridge girls, Reese Reaman continued her sensational fall and had plenty of help from her teammates.

“Reese ran outstanding to pace the Bulldogs to a fifth-place team finish,” commented Howard. “Reese crossed the line in third place. Marissa Boone also ran well to grab a 10th place finish while Eloise Willett finished 16th, and Joy McFarland continues to run well as the Bulldogs’ fourth runner while Ruby Wuscher, Kathryn Kiley, and Sydney Wilkinson had strong days.”

Reaman’s time was 18:34.8, which bested her 2021 mark by 32 seconds.

Boone had an incredible 133-second improvement over her time last season as she was timed at 19:23.6.

Also improving her 2021 clocking by 32 ticks, Willett registered a time of 19:53.4.

McFarland was 64 seconds faster as she placed 34th out of 195 runners with a time of 20:22.6.

Wuscher and Kiley were clocked at 22:15.0 while Wilkinson had a time of 22:22.1 to best her 2021 mark by 167 seconds! Wuscher was 140 seconds faster.

Howard also saw some great efforts in the junior varsity and open races in Medina.

“In the junior varsity event, a pack of our boys worked together to grab the runner up position,” said Howard. “Josh Stetler had a lifetime best time (17:55.7) to grab third overall among over 400 runners. Xavier Griffiths, Caiden Jansen, Carter Speakman, and Erick Williams all had great days to complete the scoring.”

“In the girls’ open race, Regan Smith returned to action and raced well to finish 13th in the event,” Howard said of Smith, a promising runner who had a time of 22:00.7 and is back from muscular issues in her leg.

“Izzie Howell, Rachel LaGuardia, Hailey Jansen, and Audra Warnick rounded out the scoring five. Avery Dutt ran a lifetime best (28:31.5) to end her regular-season career.”

On the horizon for both Bulldog clubs is the Division II District meet, set for Oct. 22 at Lorain County Community College in Elyria.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Woodridge cross country prepares for league meet at Medina