Brady Salazar, Joseph Stahl lead Buckeyes at Avon Lake Earlybird Cross Country Race

ELYRIA — Despite being shorthanded, the Buckeye boys cross country team held its own Saturday at the 46th annual Avon Lake Earlybird. The Bucks (220) finished ninth out of 20 teams in the Maroon Division at Lorain County Community College despite missing No. 1 runner Dimitry Pshonyak, who was out of town. Senior Brady Salazar (16:59.6) and freshman Joseph Stahl (17:23.8) led the Bucks. Salazar finished eighth and Stahl 11th in a field of 167 runners. "It went pretty well. I wanted to PR again after last week but just couldn't do it," Salazar said. "I couldn't hold the pace. I'm happy with my finish, though. I managed to track down the Westlake kid (Andrew Shaver, 9th, 17:01.4). "What I was talking with my teammates about is that you have to pace yourself with this course (double-loop with steep hill on each loop), so you have to have enough energy for that kick after the second hill." Stahl also upbeat about his efforts. "I came off the start pretty good and was leading my pack for a little bit," he said. "I started slowing down a bit, but halfway up the second hill I found that second gear and just turned it on. That downhill I don't even have to try. I just let my feet carry me down that one. It helps a lot." Juniors Gavin Waibel (54th, 18:37.4), Nolan Rieth (61st, 18:45.4) and John Galavda (86th, 19:28.9) rounded out the Bucks' top five. The Buckeye girls finished 11th out of 18 teams in the Maroon Division. Senior Sophia Regiec finished 31st out of 141 runners with a time of 21:44.9. "It was a pretty tough race. Tough competition," she said. "Here it's always usually kind of slower course, so we knew that we had to push ourselves mentally, but I think we all did pretty well. "It felt good today. The weather definitely was better compared to last year, when it was very hot. I definitely feel like I was aggressive attacking the hills and coming down where it mattered the lost." Sophomore Lily Regiec (56th, 23:20.9), senior Shelby Skilskyi (23:51.3), freshman Hayleigh Kreeger (67th, 23:53.2) and junior Kate Shearer (92nd, 25:47.8) rounded out the Bucks' top five. "It went pretty well," Kreeger said. "This was my first time ever running the race. The weather was nice. It definitely was a hard one with the two hills. Definitely up the hill was hard, but downhill you were able to use momentum to pass some people. I think I did that pretty well, and I think the whole team did, too." Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results Maroon Division BOYS Standings: 1. Shaker Heights, 128, 2. St. Edward, 132, 3. Avon Lake, 137, 4. Keystone, 152, 5. Lakewood, 157, 6. Bay, 173, 7. Avon, 196, 8. Westlake, 203, 9. Buckeye, 220, 10. Huron, 236, 11. North Olmsted, 245, 12. Perkins, 251, 13. North Royalton, 313, 14. Nordonia, 349, 15. Elyria Catholic, 373, 16. Normandy, 402, 17. Padua, 428, 18. Firelands, 453, 19. Valley Forge, 609, 20. Lorain, 659Buckeye (220) — 8. Brady Salazar, 16:59.6, 11. Joseph Stahl, 17:23.8, 54. Gavin Waihel, 18:37.4, 61. Nolan Rieth, 18:45.4, 86. John Galavda, 19:28.9, 105. Ben Naso, 20,00.7, 109. Nick Rieth, 20:15.6. GIRLSStandings: 1. Hathaway Brown, 34, 2. Bay, 73, 3. St. Joseph Academy, 91, 4. Huron, 103, 5. Magnificat, 140, 6. Shaker Heights, 156, 7. North Royalton, 250, 8. Avon Lake, 250, 9. Beaumont, 268, 10. Lakewood, 308, 11. Buckeye, 312, 12. Padua, 314, 13. Firelands, 378, 14. Normandy, 397, 15. Nordonia, 411, 16. Keystone, 474, 17. Elyria Catholic, 480, 18. Lorain, 485Buckeye (312) — 31. Sophia Regiec, 21:44.9, 56. Lily Regiec, 23:20.9, 66. Shelby Skilskyi, 22:51.3, 67. Hayleigh Kreeger, 23:53.2, 92. Kate Sheerer, 25:47.8, 93. Lila Hoover, 25:49.1, 102. Aria Knight, 26:36.8.