Road to state begins with district meets

Henry Palattella gets you ready for today’s district meets across all three divisions at Lorain County Community College, as the road to state at Fortress Obetz begins.

When: Oct. 24

Schedule: 9:30a.m. (Division III boys race); 10:10 a.m. (D-III girls race); 11:30 a.m. (D-II boys race); 12:10 p.m. (D-II girls race); 1:30 p.m. (D-I boys race I); 2:10 (D-I Boys race II); 2:50p.m. (D-I girls race I); 3:30(D-I girls race II)

Where: Lorain County Community College

D-III what to look for: Boys — There are four teams and 16individuals, including area teams Columbia, Elyria Catholic, Wellington, Oberlin and Open Door. … At the Great Lakes Conference Championship, Elyria Catholic’s Matt Krese finished fifth in a stacked race. ... Columbia’s Sam Sikorksi (10:03.84) and Dante Cirigliano (18:14.66) ran well on a tough Black River course at the LC8Championships. Girls — There are four teams and 16individuals qualifying including area teams Columbia, Elyria Catholic, Wellington, Oberlin and Open Door. … Columbia’s coming off one of their best races of the year. The Raiders won the team title at the LC8 Championship as Madeline Finton finished in first (20:36).

D-II what to look for:

Boys — There are four teams and 16individuals competing including Bay, Fairview, Brookside, Clearview, Firelands and Keystone. … This race should be a tight one. Bay and Fairview have been going at each all year in the Great Lakes Conference and chances are that’ll once again be the case here. Bay’s led by Will Warren (16:14.8, first at GLC Championship) and Jude Alut (second, 16:19.1) while Fairview has a onetwo punch of its own in Nolan Krumhansl (16:26.2, third at GLC) and Ben Osborne (16:26.4). Girls — There are four teams and 16individuals, including area teams Brookside, Clearview, Fairview, Firelands and Keystone. Fairview’s Lil Palisin finished seventh at the Great Lakes Championship with a time of 20:20.46. ... Brookside finished second at the LC8 championships behind strong performances from

Madison Palmer (second, 20:58.52) and Jessica Gower (third, 21:30.43). D-I what to look for: Boys — There are eight teams and 32individuals competing. The Division I field is broken into two separate races. The first boys’ race will feature area teams Avon, Olmsted Falls and Midview while the second race has Amherst, Avon Lake, Westlake, North Ridgeville, Elyria and North Olmsted. The first race will be a tough one for area teams, as it also includes Brunswick and Rocky River, among others. ... Avon’s Jett Wieber is coming off a second-place finish at the Southwestern Conference Championship with a 16:27.9. ... The second race should feature some great running from area schools. Amherst freshman Ty Perez is coming off another strong performance, as he won the SWC championship with a time of 16:21. The Comets also won the team title, thanks in part to strong efforts from Luke Bowlsby (fifth in SWC, 17:09.5) and Jacob Raesler (sixth, 17:33.9). ... Avon Lake finished in second at the SWC championships and will get another chance to top the Comets. Matt Henry (fourth in SWC, 17:07.1) was their best runner last time out. Girls — There are eight teams and 32individuals competing. Like the boys, the Division I field is broken up into two separate races. The first girls race will feature area teams Bay, Amherst, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville. The second race has Westlake, Olmsted Falls, Avon, North Olmsted, Midview and Elyria. … Rocky River had the top two finishers at the Great Lakes Conference meet, but the Rockets had runners who finished third through sixth to take home the team crown.

... Of the Southwestern Conference teams in the first race, Avon Lake’s Maggie Jantz (11th in SWC, 20:47.6) was the best finisher. ... In the second race. The main storyline will be the race between Westlake and Olmsted Falls. The Bulldogs had the top two finishers at the SWC championship (Katie Clute, 18:50and Lillie Katsaras, 19:27.7) but the Demons finished fourth through seventh and won the team crown.