Chardon girls win district cross country

Led by meet champion Denali Selent, the Hilltoppers fended off bad weather and opponents to successfully defend their Division I title. Nate Barnes has the story from Madison.

Denali Selent and the Chardon girls cross country team’s quest to defend their Division I Madison District title already faced a challenge from Shaker Heights and Mentor. Shortly after the meet’s final race began Oct. 20, the elements added an additional obstacle in the Hilltoppers’ path.

Driving rains, thunder, lightning and hail showers pelted runners during the D-I girls race, which was nearly halted by officials.

Runners persevered, and Chardon powered through. Selent won the race in 18 minutes, 56 seconds while her next four teammates placed among the top 20 finishers. The Hilltoppers’ 43 points gave them a 20-point victory over runner-up Shaker Heights.

“When it kind of started to rain and hail, I tried not to think about it too much,” Selent said. “I kind of just laughed about it for a second and was like, ‘OK, this weather’s kind of rough but we’re just going to push through the best we can and try to focus on it.’ “

Sophomores Brianna Nieset (19:10) and Andi Mann (19:21) placed third and fourth. Sophomores Lilli Livengood (20:02) took 15th and senior Molly Greene (20:15) was 20th.

Following the Raiders, Anna Evans (19:38) placed seventh to lead Mentor in third place. Mayfield’s Nicole DiCicco (19:01) placed second for the fourth-place Wildcats. Elizabeth Joy (20:00) placed 13th for Geneva as the Eagles were fifth to secure the final regional team qualification.

Eve Horrigan (19:45) placed ninth and Riverside’s Cheyenne Durda (20:12) was 19th to earn individual qualification to Boardman.

Three weeks after Riverside’s AJ Haffa broke 16 and set a PR at Madison, he returned to win the D-I boys race with a time of 16 minutes, 3 seconds. Haffa won his third race in the past four weeks to begin a postseason he plans to complete in Hebron.

“It feels amazing,” Haffa said. “All the hard work pays off today, man, this feels really good.”

Shaker Heights won the D-I boys team title with 53 points. Mentor’s Nick Kozlowski (16:15) was the runner-up to Haffa as the Cardinals were second with 67 points. Freshman Josh Risko (17:22) stepped up to finish 14th as the team’s No. 2 runner.

Behind Haffa, Zeb Zuber was eighth and Riverside’s boys team finished third. Jacob Mirabell (16:37) placed fifth for fourth-place Geneva. Mayfield’s Justin Arnold (17:28) was 12th as the Wildcats earned the final team qualification to Boardman.

Madison’s Owen Hennessey (16:38) finished sixth, Harvey’s JT Basco (16:48) placed seventh, South’s Jacob Baker (17:05) was 10th and Harvey’s David Boykin (17:23) was 16th to qualify individually.

Lake Catholic’s Alex Hansel (16:28) set a PR with his victory in the boys D-II race. Hansel enjoyed a breakout postseason as a junior in 2017 and returned to a familiar course to again achieve his desired result.

“Here, (I’m) just getting in the mindset of ‘I’m the best here, I can do this,’ “Hansel said. “I get mental preparation, mental strength.”

Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin defended its district team title with 51 points. Harmond Richardson (16:58) led the Lions pack in fifth while Augie King (17:03) was seventh. When Richardson heard PSY’s “Gangnam Style” while running in the wooded section of Madison’s course, he said he knew it was time to step up.

Richardson’s emerged as a lead runner for coach Karl Weinfurtner while King and Cal Yackin managed injuries during the regular season.

“I kind of decided it was my time to lead, step up as No. 1 runner,” Richardson said. “I’ve just kind of been running as hard as I can.”

Lake Catholic finished second with 85 points. Six Chagrin Falls boys runners set personal-best times, led by Marshall Sadowski (16:45) in second place. The Tigers were third with 102 points. Benedictine earned the fifth team qualification with 170 points. Anthony Sweet (17:14) led the Bengals’ pack in 13th.

West Geauga’s John Patterson (17:00) was sixth and Kenneth Kirk (17:30) placed 20th to earn individual qualifications.

Laurel’s Kate Amaddio won the girls D-II race in 18 minutes, 28 seconds.

Chagrin Falls’ Hannah Clark (19:42) led area runners in third place as the Tigers won the D-II girls team title with 54 points. Freshman Azurra Opperman (20:18.6) and senior Catherine Coffey (20:18.9) were eighth and ninth. Chagrin Falls won the district title after the Tigers were projected to place second.

“Finding our team and having a good team dynamic, it’s definitely been a season journey going through that,” Clark said. “I think we’re in a place now where we have really good chemistry and it’s been really fun so I think.”

Hailey Vitolo (20:16) finished seventh to lead Perry to a regional qualification in fourth. West Geauga’s Julia Martinez (20:28) was 14th and Lake Catholic’s Mila Udovicic (20:38) finished 19th to qualify individually.