By Jim Horvath



The Tiffin Cross Country Carnival is one of the largest, most competitive early-season meets a high school runner can compete in.

On Saturday, a large contingent of harriers from the Westshore area competed against some of the best cross country talent in the state. Nobody had a better day on the course than Rocky River senior Elyse Bierut.

Bierut, competing for the Pirates in the Division I-A race, tied her own personal best with a time of 18:29.52 to finish third overall. As a team, River finished 12th overall in the 31-team field, with Bierut and junior Madi Connelly both finishing in the top 10.

Bay had the best finish of any area varsity team as the girls finished 10th, while Magnificat finished 17th. Brunswick won the team title with 132 points.

In the boys Division II-A race, Rocky River came in 16th out of a field of 47 teams. In the Division I-A competition, Avon Lake’s boys took seventh, North Olmsted 24th and Avon 27th. The Division I-B girls race had Magnificat come in sixth, Avon eighth and Westlake 10th, while the Demon boys came in 21st in the boys race.

The winner in the girls DI-A race was Jacquelyn Crow of Lebanon as the sophomore came through the chute with a time of 18:23.14. Brunswick’s Selena Pasadyn, a senior, was the runner-up with her 18:26.58, with Bierut just three seconds behind. Connelly was eighth with her time of 19:11.35.

Magnificat senior Abbie Marquard finished 20th with her time of 19:31.49 to lead the Blue Streak contingent. Bay’s top finisher was sophomore Maddie Britton, who came in 25th with her 19:39.43 clocking. Sophomore teammate Hallie Bechtel also finished in the top 50 with her time of 20:01.42, good for 35th.

The only other area runner to finish in the top 50 was North Olmsted junior Haley Reines, who came in 43rd with her time of 20:09.29 in the field of 218 runners.

In the DI-A boys race, Avon Lake finished seventh overall, while North Olmsted took 24th and Avon 27th. The Shoremen were led by juniors Norris Trevor, who came in 11th with a time of 16:13.14, and Maiorca Francesco, who took 16th with a 16:18.08. They had three runners in the top 50, with senior Connor Musial taking 38th with a time of 16:43.65.

Avon sophomore Austin Fasciana came in 25th with a time of 16:30.20. North Olmsted’s top two runners were junior Zach Kozik (62nd, 16:58.29) and senior Ronnie fox (76th, 17:04.06).

In the girls DI-B race, Avon’s Amanda Ramsey was 15th with a time of 21:05.17. Westlake had a pair of runners in the top 30, with freshman Morgan Hansen coming in 22nd (21:20.90) and sophomore Grace Jenkins 24th (21:24.71). Magnificat’s top runner was junior Bridgette Coyne, who took 29th with her 21:29.90.

Westlake’s Jon Simon was the top area finisher in the boys DI-B race, coming in 66th with an 18:23.61.

The top finisher for Rocky River in the boys DII-A race was junior Blake Williams, who came in 52nd with his time of 17:54.57. Senior teammate Daniel Pritchard was the second-best Pirate finisher, coming in 83rd with a time of 18:17.95.

For complete results from the meet, go to www.runnerspace.com.

Tag: RR