Cross Country: Cloverleaf boys, Highland girls thrive at Todd Clark Invitational

NORTON — Cloverleaf's Todd Clark Invitational took on a distinctly new feel this season with a different venue and deeper, more talented field. The Cloverleaf boys and Highland girls in particular thrived among Medina County cross country teams on a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning at Silver Creek Metro Park. Both finished seventh in their respective races. The Colts were led by medal-winning performances by seniors Caleb Neville (11th, 16:25.4) and Gavin Forbes (24th, 16:57.1). "This is the biggest meet we've ever hosted, and that's honestly the coolest part to me," Neville said. "This is our (Metro Athletic Conference) course, so we'll be right back here in a few weeks. It was nice to get a practice run at it, and this is probably my favorite course that we get to do. "We had such great competition today that it'll get us practicing harder to hopefully reach even better times there." The move of courses from Cy Hewit Park in Seville was necessitated by a greater need for parking. Silver Creek is the University of Akron home course and has hosted NCAA Division I regional meets. The Hornets girls team was led by three medal-winning performances by Katie Schuler (4th, 19:05.4), Olivia Keough (12th, 19:48.0) and Celia Pylypiak (23rd, 20:13.7). "I'm really proud of where we're at," Schuler said. "I think our team has a good chance to go pretty far in the postseason. I think that I have that ability, too." Finishing behind the Colts (236) on the boys side were Highland (272) in ninth and Buckeye (351) in 12th of 26 teams. The Hornets were led by Andrew Welch (17:04.1, 26th) and a personal-best 17:04.7 for freshman Logan Conrad, who was one spot behind Welch, while Brady Salazar paced the Bucks by finishing 19th in 16:48.5. "We came into this race having never raced this course before," Salazar said. "We walked the course, and thought it was going to blazing fast. I didn't P.R, but I came in first for our team, something I haven't done in three or four weeks. It was definitely fun race." The Bucks, who have been ranked as high as 26th in D-II by the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches, were without Joe Stahl (football commitments) and Brant Anderson (hip). Buckeye hopes to make its first state appearance this season. In the girls race, Cloverleaf (455) was 17th, with Leah Monhemius finishing 41st in 20:57.0. The Bucks (504) were 20th out of 24 teams behind Hayleigh Kreeger's 21:40.1 that was 64th. In his third race back after rehabilitating from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip during the spring, reigning Gazette MVP Neville continued to improve his time. "It was a fast start," he said. "I'm starting to feel pretty confident as I get ready to go into the postseason. "Since I'm just getting back, I'm just trying to stay with that top group. I'm not really worried about seeing the clock. I kind of lost (the leaders) in the third mile, but I'm still pretty happy with my race." While Neville has been working back into form, Forbes has consistently led the team and entered the weekend with Medina County's third-fastest time of 16:17.62 at Wooster. Schuler entered the weekend with the county's second-fastest time and continued her strong season with a good showing on one of the most challenging courses Highland has faced this season. "I knew this was a hilly course," she said. "My goal was to get top 10, and I did that. I wanted to make sure I didn't do the first loop too fast and I think I did a good job not going out too strong." Keough continues to come on strong for the Hornets, strengthening depth. Her fastest time of the season was a 19:36.55 at Wooster, and she continued to hover around that number Saturday. "I feel good that I got 12th overall," she said. "I feel like I could have added in a few more strides and kicked it a little better, but I'm definitely happy with how I did." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Standings: 1. Lexington 47, 2. Cuyahoga Valley Christian 70, 3. Stow 153, 4. Mentor 177, 5. Canton GlenOak 202, 6. Solon 211, 7. Cloverleaf 236, 8. Aurora 254, 9. Highland 272, 10. Shaker Heights 286, 11. Lakewood 298, 12. Buckeye 351, 13. Archbishop Hoban 365, 14. Twinsburg 366, 15. Brecksville 377, 16. Hudson 437, 17. North Royalton 451, 18. Wooster 513, 19. Roosevelt 534, 20. Green 541, 21. Avon 546, 22. Gilmour 592, 23. Mayfield 676, 24. Westside Christian 684, 25. Lake Catholic 690, 26. Mogadore 717. Cloverleaf (236) — 11. Caleb Neville 16:25.4, 24. Gavin Forbes 16:57.1, 52. Noah Mion 17:37.1, 65. Clay Gucker 17:54.6, 84. Mason Clapp 18:15.0, 96. Matthew Jenkins 18:31.6, 106. Antonio Ortega 18:45.3. Highland (272) — 26. Andrew Welch 17:04.1, 27. Logan Conrad 17:04.7, 41. Colton Klein 17:22.4, 75. Nate Boyce 18:03.9, 103. Andrew Bossart 18:41.4, 122. John Hildenbrand 19:05.0, 125. Grayson Farr 19:07.5. Buckeye (351) — 19. Brady Salazar 16:48.5, 32. Dimitry Pshonyak 17:07.4, 70. Nolan Rieth 17:59.9, 93. Gavin Waibel 18:29.2, 137. John Galayda 19:27.2, 139. Paul Abbott 19:29.6, 162. Ben Naso 20:02.0. BOYS OPEN Medina Christian (NS) — 20. Grayson Bolon 18:48.6, 86. Eli Auld 19:57.1, 137. Logan Theis 20:40.3, 195. Isaac Calvert 21:25.0. GIRLS Standings: 1. Hudson 92, 2. Lexington 92, 3. Aurora 127, 4. Solon 141, 5. Cuyahoga Valley Christian 155, 6. Canton GlenOak 166, 7. Highland 167, 8. Stow 230, 9. Brecksville 249, 10. Wooster 302, 11. Shaker Heights 319, 12. Revere 324, 13. Twinsburg 332, 14. Green 362, 15. North Royalton 368, 16. Avon 438, 17. Cloverleaf 455, 18. Lakewood 498, 19. Archbishop Hoban 503, 20. Buckeye 504, 21. Mentor 615, 22. Mayfield 615, 23. Gilmour 655, 24. Westside Christian 677. Highland (167) — 4. Katie Schuler 19:05.3, 12. Olivia Keough 19:48.0, 23. Celia Pylypiak 20:13.7, 61. Mary Cullen 21:34.9, 67. Madison Mayer 21:41.1, 93. Jillian Pesek 22:14.4, 132. Audrey Messina 23:55.1. Cloverleaf (455) — 41. Leah Monhemius 20:57.0, 68. Elise Mion 21:41.6, 83. Gwyneth Staiger 21:59.9, 129. Addison Fallow 23:38.1, 134. Samantha Porter 24:01.6, 147. Carrigan Baltic 24:50.6, 155. Abby Reinhardt 25:17.3. Buckeye (504) — 64. Hayleigh Kreeger 21:40.1, 69. Lily Regiec 21:41.9, 104. Sophia Regiec 22:25.8, 115. Shelby SKilskyj 23:07.6, 152. Kate Shearer 25:11.2, 154. Lila Hoover 25:16.3, 156. Anna Kosman 25:22.7.