PAC loaded with talent

After placing second at the Jack Wilhelm Cross Country Classic on Oct. 4, Brookside’s Creighton Jensen is looking ahead to the Patriot Athletic Conference Championship. He also has quite the outlook.

“Our conference is going to be crazy this year,” Jensen said. “If you’ve been following the local runners, you have Tanner Hawley (Black River), Simon Perales (Oberlin), Brennan Crawford and the rest of the Firelands boys, Derek Reynolds and Cullen Grude, especially.

“It’s going to be an insane battle for the top seven. I can’t really say what I can expect to happen because they’re all so good and we push each other so well.”

Here’s a glance of what we can expect from the top runners in the PAC Championship:

• Crawford, a senior, has been running well, placing in the top-10 in five of his seven races this season and set a personal record of 17:00.47 at the Keystone Invitational. At the PAC Championship in the 2013, he placed seventh with a time of 17:39.00.

• Hawley has been running at his finest and is

GIRLS peaking at the right time. He has back-to-back wins and set a personal and school record at the Western Reserve John Speer Invitational on Sept. 27, finishing with a time of 16:17.00. In seven of his eight races, he has finished in the top 11.

He finished in fourth at the PAC Championship, completing the course in 17:12.00

• Perales has been one of the more consistent runners, placing in the top eight in in seven of the eight invitationals he has competed in. He set a personal record at the Seneca East Tiger Classic with a time of 16:46.89. He finished third in the PAC Championship in 2013.

• Jensen may have an advantage heading into Saturday’s race. He has competed in less races (six), possibly feeling being more rested than other runners. After the Wilhelm Classic, Jensen said he “feels great.” He has finished in the top

BOYS five in four of his races. He finished at the PAC Championship with a time of 16:54.00, which also set a personal record.

The PAC Championship will take place on Oct. 11 at the Lorain Country Equstrian at 8:15 a.m. A look ahead

The rest of the conference championship times and locations are as follows:

• Southwestern Conference: Lorain County Community College, Oct. 11, 10 a.m.

• Sandusky Bay Conference Championship: Bowling Green State University — Firelands, Oct. 11, 9 a.m.

• West Shore Conference: Cahoon Park (Bay Village), Oct. 11, 10 a.m.

• Firelands Conference: Mary Fate Park (Plymouth), Oct. 11, 9 a.m.

• Northern Ohio League: Hedge Boyer Park (Tiffin), Oct. 11, 10 a.m.