The Garfield G-Men girls’ cross-country team showed they could run with some of the top teams in Northeast Ohio, taking third place with a 3-14-16-27-40 finish to score 100 points at the 28th annual Cardinal Invitational last Saturday morning in Middlefield.
“We had three personal bests and three seasons’ bests on Saturday and looking at what they did last year in the same event, we definitely saw growth across the board,” said Garfield Coach Matt Pfleger. “There were a couple of athletes that did not hit what they wanted to hit but for the most part we had a great competition.”
Freshman Lina Kaufman captured third place with a time of 19:12.07, followed by senior Kathlene McMahon who took 16th place by clocking 20:59.34, sophomore Nora Yukich earned 18th place at 20:59.34, junior Rebecca Evans finished in 32nd place with a personal record 21:53.14 and junior Eva VonBergen snagged 49th place at 23:06.91.
Once again, the G-Men were propelled by their dynamic freshman Kaufman, who has led Garfield’s pack since the beginning of the season and has already set a high standard, including breaking the 39-year school record for fastest time in a race in her season debut at the Riverside Kickoff Classic on Aug. 23.
Kaufman ran with some top-tiered runners at the front of the pack, including Kirtland senior Izzie Copeland and Chagrin Falls’ sophomore Gabby Byrne and still finished in the first flight of runners.
“A third place finish against that competition yesterday and running a 19:12, which is her second-best time of the season,” noted the fifth-year coach. “She is one of those athletes that a school wishes they could have and to have her performing and competing for us is just spectacular.”
With Kaufman being Garfield’s front-runner in most races this year, she has kept the G-Men’s pack in the top flight, which has transformed the team. With Kaufman leading in most races, Garfield’s pack has pushed themselves to stay closer to the front, and the gap between Kaufman and her teammates continues to shrink with each race.
“With Lina as our front-runner and our pack behind them, I think they have been working really well at practice and I think that is going to pay off at the bigger meets where every place counts,” Pfleger noted.
As the G-Men continue making strides, it not only sets them up for bigger things in the postseason but for the foreseeable future as McMahon is the only senior in Garfield’s top seven runners.
The G-Men girls will return to race at the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier Championships at Woodland Park in McDonald on Sept. 30 at 4:30 p.m.
Badger boys’ cross-country nets fourth place
On the boys’ side, the Berkshire Badgers’ cross-country team also made a big statement in the midst of a breakout year, as they gutted out fourth place with a 15-24-27-31-50 finish to score 147 points.
“It was probably our best finish in the last three years since I have been back,” Badgers’ Coach Bryan Wadsworth said. “We talked to the team after the race, it was not our best race, but we are excited about the progress we are making.”
Junior Danny Auth took 17th place with a time of 17:25.11, followed by sophomore Aiden Hollingsworth who captured 26th place by clocking a personal record of 17:40.49, sophomore Will Slattery earned 29th place with a personal record 17:46.58, freshman Evan Tromba finished in 33rd place with a personal record of 17:58.58 and senior Jimmy Toth clinched 56th place with a personal record of 18:44.33.
For the Badgers, their season of rebirth continued yielding big results as they executed a pack-running strategy to finish at the top the second flight of teams, as the first flight was rounded out by Chagrin Valley Conference Rivals Chagrin Falls, West Geauga and Bay.
“We had the best spread out of all of the teams,” noted the third-year coach. “We don’t have a typical front-runner, a guy in the 15’s or even low 16’s yet, so in order for us to achieve our goals, we have to be a close spread and the boys did it.”
On Saturday, Auth led Berkshire’s pack by achieving a season’s best time. According to Wadsworth, it has usually been Hollingsworth who has been Berkshire’s lead runner but Auth took the reins to dictate the Badgers’ pace.
“Danny is a wrestler, so we started talking to Danny about what it is like in the third period and that is what you need to feel like when you are running the race and he really grabbed on to that on Saturday.”
Wadsworth added that Berkshire’s young group of runners have made it their mission to use this season to revitalize the program and so far, the results have spoken for themselves.
Meanwhile, the Berkshire boys will compete at the U Wanna Come Back Invitational at Madison High School in Lake County on Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m.
