Cross country: Improving Katie Schuler impresses at Milt Place Festival

MEDINA — Highland senior cross country runner Katie Schuler is raising the bar this season. Schuler's Green Division victory in 18:05.16 Saturday at Medina's Milt Place Festival was simply the latest example of show-stealing performances. "Most of the season, I've just been comparing my times to the times I ran at courses in the previous season," Schuler said. "At every single one, I've shown a lot of improvement. Getting the win is just another really exciting addition." Schuler bested Bay's Maya Gonzalez (18:12.08) by nearly seven seconds. All eight Medina County girls and boys cross country teams descended upon Ella Canavan Elementary for the meet that bears the name of the former Medina cross country coach, who was paramount in the creation of the event. Schuler led the Hornets (219) to eighth out of 23 teams in the marquee girls race. Olivia Keough (18th, 20:02.77) also turned in a strong day for Highland. Behind reigning Gazette MVP Maggie Gerschutz (7th, 18:55.23), Wadsworth (174) took sixth as the top county team, besting Medina (7th, 210) and the Hornets one week ahead of the Suburban League National Conference Meet for all three teams. Brecksville (135) was third. "I feel like we're in a great spot," Gerschutz said. "We definitely have all the pieces, it's just have a day where they all come together at one time. That's coming up." Alanya Yanmaz led host Medina by finishing 21st in 20:15.72. Cloverleaf (302) and Brunswick (368) finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Isla Nolan paced the Blue Devils, taking 11th in 19:37.59. Elise Mion led the pack for the Colts, placing 30th in 20:29.07. Buckeye (550) and Black River (671) placed 21st and 22nd, respectively. In the White Division, Medina Christian's Aubrey Steele (26:39.15) took 52nd. Medina (118) finished second in the boys Green Division race to Woodridge (68). Zach Sohar continued his strong season, finishing 10th in 16:20.80 in a race that means just a little bit more for the Bees. He was backed by Logan Butszko (18th, 16:35.54). "This is a big week for us," Sohar said. "Our coaches spent the whole week getting the course ready for us, and we did a lot of workouts as a team getting ready for it. It's nice to have a good group up here to continue the legacy of Milt." Butszko and Trent Schirmer (23rd, 16:43.14) improved their spots on the county leaderboard with season-best times. Buckeye's Dimitry Pshonyak was the top local finisher, taking fifth in 16:09.63. Pshonyak, who helped lead the Bucks to their first state team berth last season, is feeling healthy and ready to peak as the postseason approaches. "I kind of died on the last lap, but I went out faster to try and be more confident and go out with the top guys," he said. "I think that paid off. "I'm back to 100%, because throughout the season my back has been hurting so much that I could barely run." Pshonyak was backed by teammate Joe Stahl, taking seventh in 16:15.70. "I was expecting to stick with some of the top runners," Pshonyak said. "I knew so many of us had very similar times. My goal was just to stick with them, but I felt really strong on the uphills and downhills, so I was able to pull away that way." Cloverleaf (144) placed an impressive fourth. Noah Mion (13th, 16:25.72) and Matthew Jenkins (16th, 16:31.59) led the Colts, and Clay Gucker (16:52.96) strengthened his season-best time. Andrew Welch (22nd, 16:41.60) and John Hildenbrand (25th, 16:45.23) pushed Highland (202) to seventh out of 27 teams. Black River's Connor Rhein (15th, 16:28.78) and Brunswick's Lleyton Klein (17th, 16:32.56) turned in strong performances. The Blue Devils (444) finished 17th and the Pirates (526) 19th. Led by Carter Myers (55th, 17:13.95), Wadsworth (611) took 22nd. Medina Christian's Luke Kubacki (21:00.15) was 69th in the White Division race. Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com. Results Milt Place Festival BOYS Green Division Standings: 1. Woodridge 68, 2. Medina 118, 3. Massillon Jackson 131, 4. Cloverleaf 144, 5. North Canton Hoover 176, 6. Westlake 198, 7. Highland 202, 8. Rocky River 222, 9. Buckeye 275, 10. Avon 322, 11. Bay 353, 12. Mentor 358, 13. Orange 360, 14. Firestone 371, 15. Brecksville 373, 16. Green 431, 17. Brunswick 444, 18. Kenston 493, 19. Black River 526, 20. West Geauga 539, 21. North Olmsted 581, 22. Wadsworth 611, 23. Normandy 648, 24. Hilliard Darby 685, 25. North Royalton 706, 26. Claymont 717, 27. Strongsville 739. Medina (118) — 10. Zach Sohar 16:20.80, 18. Logan Butsko 16:35.54, 23. Trent Schirmer 16:43.14, 31. Jackson Warfe 16:50.54, 36. Noah Palombo 16:57.70, 66. Bryton Wilson 17:21.22, 68. Owen Gut 17:22.59. Cloverleaf (144) — 13. Noah Mion 16:25.72, 16. Matthew Jenkins 16:31.59, 21. Evan Riegler 16:40.85, 33. Clay Gucker 16:52.96, 61. Mason Clapp 17:18.15, 67. Gavin Ferrone 17:22.24, 130. Antonio Ortega 18:26.11. Highland (202) — 22. Andrew Welch 16:41.60, 25. John Hildenbrand 16:45.23, 47. Logan Conrad 17:06.59, 50. Colton Klein 17:10.71, 58. Nate Boyce 17:15.33, 65. Andrew Bossart 17:20.80, 72. Parker Stracensky 17:23.75. Buckeye (275) — 5. Dimitry Pshonyak 16:09.63, 7. Joe Stahl 16:15.70, 78. Nolan Rieth 17:26.98, 95. Nick Rieth 17:47.43, 100. John Galayda 17:50. 83, 102. Cameron Wyman 17:51.34, 112. Bennett Knapp 17:59.23. Brunswick (444) — 17. Lleyton Klein 16:32.56, 69. Brayden Altvater 17:23.30, 93. Cayden Wolf 17:43.63, 115. Finn Meade 18:00.97, 182. Austin Tomcho 18:59.57, 186. Kenton Sinko 19:01.83, 193. Grant Kemmann 19:07.66. Black River (526) — 15. Connor Rhein 16:28.78, 109. Jackson Quallich 17:55.99, 122. Archer Combs 18:08.58, 123. Ray Brakefield 18:10.99, 215. Brock Martin 19:52. 26, 224. Leland Gallatin 20:38.01, 226. Logan Rhein 21:53.54. Wadsworth (611) — 55. Carter Myers 17:13.95, 126. K.J. Mack 18:12.88, 151. Reid Tiger 18:31.82, 157. Hudson Conley 18:34.48, 175. Ben Parsons 18:53.94, 181. Leo Gerschutz 18:59. 30, 198. John Roxberry 19:12.10. White Division Standings: 1. Copley 24, 2. Holy Name 44, 3. Hearts for Jesus Christ 82, 4. Nordonia 97, 5. Revere 156, 6. Rootstown 176, 7. Benedictine 198, 8. Eastlake North 227, 9. Lorain 234. Medina Christian (NS) — 69. Luke Kubacki 21:00.15 GIRLS Green Division Standings: 1. Massillon Jackson 96, 2. St. Joseph Academy 110, 3. Brecksville 135, 4. Woodridge 151, 5. Bay 169, 6. Wadsworth 174, 7. Medina 210, 8. Highland 219, 9. Rocky River 251, 10. Avon 265, 11. Claymont 292, 12. Cloverleaf 302, 13. Brunswick 368, 14. Green 397, 15. North Canton Hoover 438, 16. Orange 459, 17. Magnificat 483, 18. Normandy 499, 19. North Royalton 512, 20. Kenston 547, 21. Buckeye 550, 22. Black River 671, 23. West Geauga 672. Wadsworth (174) — 7. Maggie Gerschutz 18:55.23, 27. Kyleigh Friedl 20:26.85, 41. Natalie Buzard 20:47.62, 46. Hadley Dietz 20:54.53, 55. Elaina Brothers 21:09.33, 82. Delaney White 21:47.99. Medina (210) — 21. Alanya Yanmaz 20:15.72, 35. Leah Bugner 20:35.36, 40. Addison Joffre 20:44.71, 53. Ella James 21:03.95, 65. Mariana Cunningham 21:29.74, 67. Evie Meade 21:34.94, 68. Teagan Alspach 21:35.86. Highland (219) — 1. Katie Schuler 18:05.16, 18. Olivia Keough 20:02.77, 25. Mary Cullen 20:24.17, 95. Madison Forshey 22:09.55, 97. Evalyn Eshleman 22:11.93, 117. Claire Hartschuh 22:45.98, 121. Gwen Hill 22:57.74. Cloverleaf (302) — 30. Elise Mion 20:29.07, 56. Leah Monhemius 21:10.28, 59. Addison Taylor 21:18.34, 79. Gwyneth Staiger 21:44.45, 94. Samantha Porter 22:07.85, 106. Lily Dluzynski 22:25.99, 107. Addison Fallow 22:27.08. Brunswick (368) — 11. Isla Nolan 19:37.59, 88. Lyla Snider 21:57.12, 90. Ellie Kunesh 21:58.65, 99. Laura Abraham 22:13.14, 112. Kathleen Gamer 22:38.49, 125. Ella Teeter 23:08.64, 140. Gianna Lajack 23:35.43. Buckeye (550) — 104. Lily Regie 22:23.31, 111. Lila Hoover 22:34.44, 114. Mackenzie Anderson 22:41.60, 142. Aria Knight 23:47.67, 150. Riley Onyx 24:13.04, 153. Kate Shearer 24:23.32, 155. Anna Kosman 24:39.21. Black River (671) — 124. Jade Mitchell 23:04.75, 139. Scarlett Olive 23:32.05, 165. Ruby Johnston 26:12.42, 175. Ava Workinger 31:13.15, 176. Grace Bowen 32:56.18. White Division Standings: 1. Hearts for Jesus Christ 52, 2. Firestone 58, 3. Copley 65, 4. Rootstown 91, 5. Holy Name 100, 6. North Olmsted 186, 7. Nordonia 192, 8. Eastlake North 204. Medina Christian (NS) — 52. Aubrey Steele 26:39.15.