One of Coach Bryan Wadsworth’s goals for returning the Berkshire Badgers’ cross-country program to relevancy was becoming a force in the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division. The Badger boys accomplished that feat when they won the CVC Valley Division title with a 2-4-7-8-9 finish to score 30 points last Saturday at Geneva High School.
“It was cool to see because we were talking about getting the banner on the gym this year so when you they came back in 20 years, they can point to it and say they did that,” noted the third-year coach. “They realized that on Saturday and were pretty excited.”
Berkshire will seek to extend its season when it begins postseason action, competing in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III district race on Saturday at Madison High School with the girls racing at 11:45 a.m. and the boys competing at 12:30 p.m.
“We are excited. Everybody has a chance when they are there,” he added. “Madison is a good course and there is good competition, but we are going to give it our all and see what we can do. It is going to be exciting.”
On Saturday, Sophomore Aiden Hollingsworth finished as runner-up by clocking 18:00.49, followed by junior Danny Auth who earned fourth place with a time of 18:24.92, senior Quinlan Sirl captured seventh place with 18:36.50, freshman Evan Tromba snagged eight place with 18:37.88 and freshman Will Slattery clinched ninth place by clocking 18:51.42.
It marked the first time since 2021 that the Badger boys were crowned CVC Valley Division champions and the first league banner since Wadsworth assumed the role as head coach.
In a field of 51 individual participants, the Badgers’ pack-running strategy proved fruitful as their top five runners each finished in the top 10 with a spread of only 50.93 seconds separating them.
“We preach that it is on everybody to have their best race so if one guy is not out front, the next guy has to start going and drag the other guys along They made a conscious effort to run next to each other on Saturday and make sure that they were encouraging and pulling each other along and that made the difference,” noted Wadsworth.
Although it was a pack-running strategy that fueled the Badgers to success, Wadsworth credited Hollingsworth for leading Berkshire’s pack, resulting in him finishing in second place, just behind Independence sophomore Mitchell Creel, who won the race with a time of 17:1.94.
According to him, Hollingsworth’s big day was even more impressive considering that he is still a newcomer to the sport.
“This is Aiden’s first year in cross-country,” noted Wadsworth. “He did track for us the last two years, but this is his first year in cross-country and he has really stepped up and helped the guys. He has put his arms around it and I think it is something he really enjoys now.”
On the girls’ side, the Badgers enjoyed another strong finish with the girls coming in third place with a 5-10-15-19-20 finish to score 69 points.
“We had our core five who have been working hard all year,” Wadsworth said. “We added a couple of girls who came into to help us and have been running with us for a little bit. It was great to see them have some success on Saturday.
Sophomore Addison Passow captured fifth place with a time of 21:55.75, followed by freshman Catherine Toth who earned 10th place by clocking 22:47.25, sophomore Ella Strmen placed 15th with 23:31.63, sophomore Sora Sigler came in 19th place at 25:03.26 and junior Kit Wadsworth snagged 20th place with a time of 25:03.30.
According to Wadsworth, Passow, Toth and Strmen formed a strong trio at the front of the pack to push the Badgers forward with Passow taking the lead.
“We talked about hard work paying off, so Addison made a decision to make cross-country and track her focus and she got in more miles than anybody this summer and it has really made a significant difference for her,” Wadsworth noted.
Although the Badger girls finished behind Kirtland and CVC Valley Division newcomer Rootstown, Wadsworth said that they are on a good path, as they are at about where the Berkshire boys were last year by having a team filled with very few upperclassmen with Passow, Toth and Strmen poised to lead for the next several years.
“It is exciting to know that they are going to be around for another two years so that is a powerhouse trio to have with a bit of leadership and god experience to usher in the next coming years that are going to be pretty darn good,” he said.
