The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Geneva boys, Chagrin girls top CVC Chagrin
Connor Boland might be the most exhausted young man in Geneva today.
But given the exertion involved May 12 during Day 2 of the CVC Chagrin meet at Orange, it’s understandable.
Especially when the formula is simple enough: Exertion plus exhaustion equals elation.
Or in this particular case, to keep the ‘E’ theme going, Eagles’ elation.
Geneva captured the boys team championship with 121 points, getting a meet MVP performance from Boland, the Eagles’ rapidly developing standout sophomore.
Boland reeled in a win in 200-meter dash, followed by a gutsy anchor minutes later as Geneva prevailed in 4x400.
The Eagles’ 4x4, with William Hanchosky, Zach Tidwell, Alex Reese and Boland bringing it home, hit the line with an encouraging time of 3 minutes, 28.09 seconds, staving off a fine run from Chagrin Falls (3:28.71). It’s good for the second- and fourth-fastest times in The News-Herald coverage area in boys 4x4 this spring.
“I mean, it’s just a massive benchmark really,” Boland said. “It’s a school record, so that’s awesome. We all really just came out here to fun as fast as we could, and we accomplished that.
“I was pushing as hard as I could (in the last 50). It’s all just grit, pushing through, all that pain of coming through a 400. It’s definitely awesome. I had to open 4, open 2 and 4x4. My legs were definitely feeling it, but I knew I just had to run fast to win. I did that, and I pushed through. I just made sure to stretch out a lot.”
That aspect was also evident as Boland won 200. He was trailing Orange stalwart Gregory Beard with 40 to go, dug deep in his stride and arm motion and leaned out the CVC Chagrin title with a 22.58.
“My start was pretty good,” Boland said. “And I saw that he was coming right up on me at that bend over there. So I know my straights are my best part in the race usually. So I really just opened up my form and pushed to the end.”
Due to the pandemic,
it couldn’t quite have the normal pomp and circumstance, but the elation carried over to taking the CVC Chagrin team title back to Ashtabula County.
“It’s just awesome,” Boland said. “I know my coaches have been saying a lot of people have not been expecting us to be as good as we are this year, and so it’s just amazing that we trained and we did everything we could to win.”
Chagrin Falls took home top honors on the girls side with 133.5 points, fending off a laudable two days of work from West Geauga (123).
Abigail Alberts impressed in a hurdles sweep, including recording the fastest time of the season in The News-Herald coverage area in 300 hurdles. The Tigers senior attacked her last hurdle beautifully and rallied for the win with a 47.01. She also ran legs on Chagrin’s first-place 4x2 and 4x4 in a breakout performance.
“This was great this year,” Alberts said. “Last year, our season was canceled. But I think it’s great to be able to come this year and win. My freshman and sophomore year, we didn’t come close to winning. And I think it was great. It was a full team effort.
“(The 47.01 in 300 hurdles) was my PR today. It was great weather. It was a great day to run. I’ve got to say, (Swinerton) really pushed me to the end. It was just a fight to the finish, and that really put me over the edge. I’m excited to see where I’ll go from here.”
Harvey’s J.T. Basco had a quality double, taking top honors in 1,600 and 3,200 with a pair of smart races.
The Red Raiders senior was measured early and smooth coming home in mile to record a 4:30.08.
In 3,200, Basco stuck with the pack on the first half, and West G’s Daniel Kearns laudably went with him to the gun lap. But
Basco had a strong kick in reserve for a 10:00.08.
“(That mile) felt pretty good — I’m not going to lie,” Basco said. “We went out 66 or 67 I think, which is where my goal was to be. And then I kind of went from there, just to roll even from there and see how consistent we had it. I hit the second lap about 2:15 after the 8, so I was really happy there.
“We still have a little bit on the third lap. That’s always happens. So then, especially going into the last lap, they’re right there — I have to go now. And they were there until I was finally able to shake them, looking at the homestretch and looking at the clock. I probably shouldn’t have looked at the clock (laughs). I really want to be sub-4:30. I feel like I can be there.”
Coming soon
For more from this meet, check back in the coming days on News-Herald.com and in our print edition.