Woodridge cross country sweeps MAC league titles again
Behind each squad having the top three finishers in each race, the Woodridge boys and girls cross country teams repeated as league champions.
The Bulldogs dominated action at the Silver Creek Metro Park recently at the Metro Athletic Conference championship meet in Norton.
Capturing the program’s 18th consecutive league title, the Woodridge boys won with 25 team points over Lodi Cloverleaf, which had a team score of 67, followed by Field (93).
The girls, collecting their seven straight league championship, edged Cloverleaf for the team crown in Norton by a score of 24-42 while Field grabbed third-place (99).
The boys raced well to win what was the 18th consecutive championship,” said head coach Jeff Howard. for the boys team. “The girls started the post-season with a seventh consecutive conference championship and have won 17 of the last 18 league meets and will head into the 2022 OHSAA tournament on a high note.”
Woodridge competed at the division II district championships at the Lorain County Community College Saturday in Elyria. Final results of both the boys and girls meets were not available as of this writing.
Bulldog senior Seth Singer won the boys individual championship.
Junior Reese Reaman captured the girls title for Woodridge in the MAC action!
Crossing with a time of 16-minutes and 27.8 seconds, Singer won the boys crown out of 96 runners.
Singer ran 58 seconds faster than his 2021 clocking in the same meet.
“Seth ran 16:27 to grab the win and earn his third first-team All-Conference recognition,” said Howard. “His victory will also result in Seth being honored as the MAC Runner of the Year.”
“Sam Su and Robbie Champa finished 2-3 in the race to join Seth as first-team honorees,” said Howard. “This was Sam’s second such honor.”
A junior, Su was the runner up overall with a time of 16:33.6, which 48 ticks faster than his time in the 2021 meet.
Champa raced third overall in the MAC as the senior was timed at 16:42.4. That clocking was 49 seconds faster than last year’s race.
Akron Springfield junior Peyton Carney was the first non-Bulldog to cross the finish line in Norton as he ran fourth in 16:44.9.
A pair of juniors – Steven Duffy and Harvey Kever, crossed next for Woodridge, Ohio’s sixth-ranked club in Ohio’s latest division II poll. Cloverleaf was ranked 27th in Ohio.
“Steven and Harvey finished 9-10 to complete the scoring,” said Howard. “Josh Stetler and Ben LeBay completed the varsity seven and were recognized as second-team All-Conference.”
Duffy’s time was 17:37.6 while Kever was clocked at 17:41.2, which was a whopping 200 seconds faster than his race in 2021!
Earning second-team All-MAC were Duffy, Kever, Stetler and LeBay.
Placing 14th overall was Stetler, a junior who had a time of 17:54.7, which was 159 ticks faster than his performance last season.
LeBay competed in his first MAC championship meet as a freshman – he finished 15th in 17:55.8. LeBay was the highest placing freshman in the race.
“Atticus Sloan, Xavier Griffiths, and Kendall McAllister each raced well to finish among the top 30 in the field,” said Howard.
A freshman, Sloan placed 23rd overall in 18:23.7. Griffiths is a freshman who ran 26th in 18:34.6, and McAllister is a sophomore who crossed 27th in 18:38.1.
Sloan and Griffiths each made special mention All-MAC with their performance.
Reaman continues to have a spectacular season and won the girls’ championship with a blazing time of 18:52.5, crushing her 2021 time by 63 seconds. She is a junior.
“Reese Reaman, Marissa Boone, and Eloise Willett finished 1-2-3 in the race to lead the way and for Reese, this was her third first-team All-Conference award and her second MAC Runner of the Year honor,” said a thrilled Howard.
Just a sophomore, Boone ran second overall with a clocking of 19:40.1, which was 82 ticks faster than last year.
Willett is a veteran junior, who raced third overall out of 74 runners. Her time was 20:10.2, which was 45 seconds faster than her clocking a year ago.
“Eloise earned her third first-team recognition while Marissa grabbed her second such honor,” proclaimed Howard. “Senior Joy McFarland had an outstanding race to earn first-team recognition with her sixth-place finish.”
By an incredible 132 seconds, McFarland improved her 2021 time! She had a clocking of 20:42.9.
Another Bulldog senior, Kathryn Kiley, crossed next for Howard as she raced 12th overall with a fast time of 21:41.5. That was 30 seconds faster than last season.
“Kathryn had her best race of the fall to finish 12th in the race and will be recognized as a second-team honoree by the Metro Athletic Conference,” commented Howard.
“Ruby Wuscher and Regan Smith completed the varsity seven for the champion Bulldogs,” said a pleased Howard.
A sophomore, Wuscher ran 18th overall with a time of 22:32.8 and Smith is a freshman who was 19th in 22:33.7. Both athletes earned special mention honors in the MAC.
“The girls are currently ranked 11th in Ohio and will start their quest for an 18th consecutive state championship berth,” said Howard
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Woodridge cross country sweeps league titles again
