The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bay boys’ title highlights area performances
YOUNGSTOWN » This year has been a year of firsts for Amherst’s Ty Perez and Luke Bowlsby.
At the beginning of the year, the freshman phenoms ran in their first high school meet at the Keystone Icebreaker, where Perez picked up his first high school win. From there the duo took over, dominating in almost every regular season meet they ran in. On Oct. 31, they got their newest “first” as they both finished in the top 32 of the boys D-I race to earn a berth in the state meet.
“I’m very happy that Ty and I qualified,” Bowlsby said. “The goal was to get top 32 and I’m glad I was able to do that.”
Perez came in fifth with a time of 17:11 while Bowlsby finished in 32nd — the last spot that qualifies for the state meet — with a time of 17:29. After dealing with staggered starts for most of the year, this was Bowlsby first time in high school dealing with a crowded start, which he says tripped him up.
“The start was absolutely crazy,” Bowlsby said “I got caught between some people and I’m glad I was able to break through that. I just didn’t get the best start.”
After essentially running side by side with Perez all year, Bowlsby gets to end his season with Perez at the state meet.
“At this time last year, I never thought something like this would happen,” Bowlsby said.
“He’s my best friend and I’m glad we were able to do this today.
In the girls D- I race, Olmsted Falls’ Katie Clute led all area finishers with a seventhplace finish in 19 minutes, 55 seconds. For the first time this, Clute — who led for a portion of the race in between the first and second mile — ran against other runners who could keep up with her.
“It was a battle with everyone the whole race,” Clute said. “I haven’t had that all year. It was different but it was really great to have some people pushing me and really testing me.”
Clute isn’t the only Bulldog who’ll be headed to Obetz, as Lillie Katsaras came in 15th with a time of 20 minutes, 12 seconds. Westlake also qualified as a team and was led by Sarah Peer, who finished in ninth place with a time of 19: 59. Midview’s Audrey Sanzone also qualified with a 22nd place finish in 20 minutes, 28 seconds.
In Division II, Keystone’s Stephen Faltay ran one of his best races of the year, coming in eighth place with a time of 17 minutes, 18 seconds. Faltay, who usually gradually builds up as the race goes on, surprised himself with how fast he started out.
“At mile two I started to fall off, which I kind of expected since I normally don’t start off going as fast as I did,” he said. “What motivated me was being here with the team and wanting to get some of those top places. I could have finished 20th and taken a deep breath afterwards and walk away but instead I pushed myself.”
For the seventh straight year, Bay’s boys team is headed to the state meet. This year’s a little sweeter, however, as the Rockets won the team title in Division II behind strong performances from their dynamic duo of Will Warren ( third, 17: 10) and Jude Ault ( fourth, 17: 11).
“We did what we’ve done all year by starting out kind of slow and then picking it up as we went on,” Warren said. “We knew once we got up front, we knew we had to hold onto our spots.”
Warren and Ault spent most of the race going elbow to elbow against some of the state’s best in the stacked D- II race. They weren’t the only area duo to do well either, as Fairview’s Nolan Krumhansl ( 11th, 17: 29) and Ben Osborne ( 12th, 17: 30) helped push the Warriors to a state berth as a team.
Columbia’s Madeline Finton also punched her ticket, finishing in seventh in the Division III girls race.
While Finton didn’t run her best race of the season, she’s happy to get a chance to race in the state meet.
“I probably would have been around fourth or fifth if I had a better race today but that’s OK,” Finton said. “I know where I should be during meets. I’m not worried about today.”
Finton finished with a time of 20: 56, a three- second improvement on her time at the district meet despite having to deal with a muddy course and nagging back injury.
“I thought she did a really job all season gutting everything out,” Columbia coach Adam Bailey said. “Her back’s been bugging her a little bit over the past couple weeks, but she was able to grit it out and do her job.”
Columbia’s girls team finished 11th, with freshman Riley Egli ( 32nd place, 22: 37) being the secondhighest finisher for the Raiders after Finton. In the boys race, junior Sam Sikorski came in 35th with an 18: 30.
“It was a good experience year for our team,” Bailey said. “This is the first time we’ve had a girls team since we brought the program back five years ago and we were able to win a conference championship and get to the regional meet. We have a young team so was a learning year for a lot of our runners.”
Open Door’s Michael Couture ( 11th, 17: 41) and Elyria Catholic Matt Krese ( 16th, 17: 52) both qualified for the state tournament in the D- III boys race.