High school cross country: Medina, Cloverleaf girls clinch state berth

BOARDMAN — Consistency has been a hallmark for Medina's girls cross country team. The Bees proved that again Saturday at the Boardman Division I Regional with a fourth-place finish out eight qualifying teams, earning their eighth state trip in nine years and 18th overall since 1997. Cloverleaf is stepping up in tradition. The Colts captured fifth place out six qualifying D-II teams to earn their second state trip in three years and seventh overall dating to 1984. No. 8 state-ranked Medina finished with 158 points, one behind No. 12 Avon (157). No. 3-rated Westlake ran away with the meet with 63. Brunswick finished ninth with 284 points, just one place and 38 points out of the money. Junior Mia Heine led Medina, as she finished 10th in 19:20.3. Senior Cara Razavi was the No. 2 runner, finishing 20th in 19:47.0. "We all felt good coming into it with our practices and everything, so we felt very confident coming into the race," Heine said. "We knew our goals. We settled down and focused on them. I think we obviously did that well. "Individually, I felt very good and felt confident coming into it. We had a great performance. I think we're ready to have a good performance (for state), take some risks and really put our name of our team out there." Haley Black (32nd, 20:00.1), Alexis Warnement (42nd, 20:26.8) and Ruth Schmeller (80th, 20:58.4) rounded out the Medina top five. The scenario was definitely different for Cloverleaf. The Colts were ranked only 23rd in the pre-regional state poll and didn't appear to have a shot on paper without injured star Alyssa Stoner. Cloverleaf came through in a huge way to qualify fifth with 173 points, outdistancing unranked Perry (190). No. 14-rated St. Vincent-St. Mary (256) and No. 16 Tallmadge (262) were left behind in seventh and eighth. No. 5 Kenston barely held off No. 12 Bay to win 108-109. No. 10 Woodridge (113) and No. 7 Salem (153) rounded out the top four. Buckeye finished 16th out of 20 schools with 356 points but qualified Audrey Graham individually. Sophomore Emma Hibler led the the Colts, as she finished 23rd in 20:26.0. Junior Megan Knapp was No. 2, placing 26th in 20:32.0. "We were talking about it all week making sure that we were the right mindset, just thinking through the whole race," Hibler said. "We knew the conditions were going to be good. We were expecting a very good race. We knew what we were supposed to do and got it done. We were all very determined to make it. We all knew our goals. We knew what we had to come out and do." Brooke Gucker (36th, 20:59.5), Madison Snyder (38th, 21:07.3) and Allison Yagersz (82nd, 22:09.9) rounded out the Cloverleaf top five. "I'm so proud of the girls," coach Garth Gucker said. "We've been flying under the radar most of the year. We faced adversity. We don't have our No. 1 runner, Alyssa Stoner. She been out most of the year. Megan Knapp, our No. 2 today, has been running with a torn (hip) labrum. She has to have hip reconstruction surgery again in a month because of a genetic disorder from birth. They're running through these things. I'm just so proud of them for what they were able to accomplish. "The girls stuck together and work together. They got themselves out in a great race position. They didn't shy away from energy, the intimidation that regionals sometime have. They worked diligently and kept just really charging that finish line. They really moved some points in our favor." Medina County also had three individual qualifiers — Graham in D-II, as well as Highland senior Kelsey Sheridan and Brunswick senior Teodora Iovi in D-I. Graham finished 12th out of 24 D-II qualifiers in 19:59.7, while Sheridan was 13th (19:29.3) and Iovi 22nd (19:49.7) out of 32 D-I qualifiers. "My coach predicted that I would finish around seventh to 12th place, so he said, 'Stick with that pack. Don't lose them,'" Graham said. "I did everything I could not lose contact with that group. It was a fight back and forth for the pack leader." "Today wasn't quite the day as last year's regional, when I finished third," Iovi said. "It was exhausting. Last year's race was like my best race ever. It's kind of hard to top that. I tried to do my best, but my legs definitely felt heavy throughout the race. I just kept trying to push it to the end. "I was thinking the whole time I have to do this for my team. I couldn't let last year to be my only top performance and then not even show up this year. It would have been a big downgrade. That really motivated me." Wadsworth's Kailyn Biecker (20:54.7) and Cami Ross (20:58.2) finished 76th and 78th in D-I, while Black River's Olivia Szamania (22:24.9) was 51st in D-III. Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com. ResultsDIVISION I Standings (top 8 advance to Nov. 5 state meet): 1. Westlake 63, 2. Shaker Heights 125, 3. Avon 157, 4. Medina 158, 5. Rocky River 192, 6. Revere 209, 7. Mentor 224, 8. St. Joseph Academy 246, 9. Brunswick 284, 10. Massillon Jackson 329, 11. Uniontown Lake 330, 12. GlenOak 332, 13. Brecksville 344, 14. Magnificat 358, 15. Amherst 363, 16. Stow 378, 17. Chardon 396, 18. Hudson 423, 19. Painesville Riverside 431, 20. Boardman 441, 21. Wooster 400, 22. Hoover 494, 23. Green 565, 24. Nordonia 569.Medina (158): 10. Mia Heine 19:20.3, 20. Cara Razavi 19:47.0, 32. Haley Black 20:00.1, 42. Alexis Warnement 20:26.8, 80. Ruth Schmeller 20:58.4, 129. Aubree Neura 21:43.2, 148. Abby Petz 21:57.6.Brunswick (284): 22. Teodora Iovi 19:49.7, 37. Alexis Tracy 20:21.4, 56. Amber Kemmann 20:39.3, 97. Lindsay Wolf 21:19.3, 120. Emily Thornberry 21:29.5, 131. Olivia Komperda 143. Aubree Stein 21:52.9.Highland: 13. Kelsey Sheridan, 19:29.3Wadsworth: 76. Kailyn Biecker, 20:54.7, 78. Cami Ross, 20:58.2 Division IIStandings (Top 6 advance to Nov. 5 state meet): 1. Kenston 108, 2. Bay 109, 3. Woodridge 113, 4. Salem 153, 5. Cloverleaf 173, 6. Perry 190, 7. St. Vincent-St. Mary 256, 8. Tallmadge 262, 9. Hathaway Brown 265, 10. CVCA 296, 11. Gilmour Academy 298, 12. Canfield 310, 13. Marlington 321, 14. Northwest 325, 15. Chagrin Falls 344, 16. Buckeye 356, 17. Geneva 359, 18. Ravenna Southeast 391, 19. Beaumont 430, 20. Field 483.Cloverleaf (173): 23. Emma Hibler 20:26.0, 26. Megan Knapp 20:32.0, 36. Brooke Gucker 20:59.5, 38. Madison Snyder 21:07.3, 82. Allison Yagersz 22:09.9, 110. Lauren Jensch 22:59.8, 116. Vanessa Monhemius 23:16.2.Buckeye: 12. Audrey Graham 19:59.7, 64. Sandra Dolata 21:40.1, 94. Sophia Regiec 22:34.7, 102. Al Schell 22:50.4, 139. Paige Pedmo 24:32.4, 142. Sara Rak 24:42.0. Division IIIStandings (top 4 advance to Nov. 5 state meet): 1. Mogadore 62, 2. Norwayne 83, 3. McDonald 107, 4. Dalton 107, 5. Rittman 126, 6. Garretsville Garfield 160, 7. Kirtland 165, 8. Waynedale 187, 9. East Canton 241, 10. Canton Central Catholic 241, 11. Cardinal 254, 12. Rootstown 301.Black River: 51. Olivia Szmania, 22:24.9.