The Berkshire Badgers’ cross country team appears already primed for the postseason. The Badgers set new records as the girls finished as the runners-up, scoring 65 points with a 4-8-9-18-26 finish and the boys captured third place by scoring 100 points with a 13-16-18-23-30 finish at the Cardinal Invitational last Saturday morning at Cardinal High School in Middlefield.
“That was a great race,” said Coach Bryan Wadsworth. “We got some boys in the 16s. We had two girls under 20. We were pumped up about Saturday. We call these practice races until we get to the postseason and that was a good practice race.”
The Badger girls were paced by freshman Claire Passow, who took fourth place with a personal record 18:54.00, followed by freshman June Dunlap who secured ninth place with a personal best 19:56.90, junior Addison Passow earned 10th place with a personal record 20.07.80, junior Ella Strmen captured 21st place with a personal best 20:45.90 and freshman Ashlyn Brozowski took 31st place by recording a time of 21:36.10.
“The girls have had a great season,” noted the fourth-year coach. “They are doing the pack-running, but we are still working on getting that pack a little closer together. They were fired up and we had a bunch of personal records. They have had a great season so far so they will continue to improve and get that pack closer together.”
The Badger girls finished only five points behind Chagrin Valley Conference rival Kirtland, which captured the team title with a team score of 60 points with a 6-10-11-14-19 finish.
According to Wadsworth, Claire fueled the Badger girls with her best race of the season, competing with some of the top individual runners in Northeast Ohio such as Chagrin Falls’ junior Gabby Byrne and CVC Valley Division rival Crestwood’s Luci Maschek.
“She has a lot left in the tank,” Wadsworth added. “She is only getting stronger, but she is fiery which is good so she is a competitor and we will see what happens at the end here.”
Wadsworth said that Claire was 10-15 seconds behind the top three runners in the final mile but picked up her pace in the final 800 meters to make it a close finish.
As much as Claire has emerged as the Badger girls’ lead runner this season, Wadsworth noted how the entire freshmen class has made an instant impact, with Dunlap finishing close behind Claire and Brozowski becoming a vital contributor.
“We added a group of tough freshmen,” he said. “Those girls have been working together since sixth grade with our youth program, and they really grabbed ahold of it and made a great adjustment from the two-to-three mile this year.”
On the boys’ side, the Badgers were led by junior Aiden Hollingsworth, who took 13th place with a personal record of 16:56.61, followed by senior Danny Auth who captured 16th place with a personal best 16:58.50, sophomore Evan Tromba came in 18th place with a personal record 16:58.50, freshman Benjamin Townsend earned 25th place with a time of 17:20.50 and sophomore Tripp Wadsworth placed 32nd with a personal best 17:36.00.
“We were excited,” said Coach Wadsworth. “We have been doing it all year. The pressure is getting only more and more intense as we move through the postseason and to be able to compete in and out each weekend with these teams is fantastic and it is good for us.”
The Badger boys demonstrated a pack-running approach, as their overall split from one-through-five was the lowest it has been all season.
“It was 39 seconds that separated the pack,” said Coach Wadsworth. “That will help you at regionals when there are a lot of teams.”
Hollingsworth was Berkshire’s lead runner on the slick but narrow Cardinal course, experiencing a fast start and never relinquished his position at the front of the pack.
“He took it upon himself to get out and lead us through that one and had a great start and continued to move up,” added Coach Wadsworth. “He ran a smart race on Saturday.”
Coach Wadsworth noted that the Badgers’ pack-running abilities have only gotten better with each race, with Saturday’s race demonstrating how well they could stay together despite running on a much tighter course.
“They hold each other accountable,” he said. “It is about ‘we’ and not ‘me’. They hold each other accountable and they push each other and they will shout at each other during a race telling each other to get moving. It is a great team effort.”
Berkshire will compete again at the Madison U Wanna Come Back Race at Madison High School on Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
