The Cardinal Huskies girls’ cross country team may be leaving the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division after this season but they are leaving on a high note. The Huskies took second place at their final CVC Valley Division meet, scoring 62 points with a 5-7-8-17-25 finish last Friday morning at Cardinal High School in Middlefield.
“It was pretty amazing,” Cardinal Coach Jenn Fekete said. “We have some key runners, our one, two and three have just really shown up this year and given us everything they have got. They are all returning runners and I could not have asked more from them. All three of them set a personal record on Friday.”
The Huskies will attempt to extend their season one more week when they compete in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III district meet on Saturday morning at Madison High School beginning at 10:15 a.m. to compete for one of five team berths to qualify for the regional meet.
Junior Eve Kaminski led Cardinal by taking fifth place with a time of 21:01.38, followed by sophomore Madison Hilger who finished in seventh place with a time of 21:14.11, senior Aubreigh Kitzmiller placed eighth with a time of 21:17.75, freshman Abigail Springer came in 18th place with a time of 23:13.02, and sophomore Ivy Kaminski checked in at 28th place with a time of 24:33.30.
While the Huskies had their top three runners place in the top 10, with Eve Kaminski finishing fifth, conference foe Kirtland’s top five runners all finished in the top 11, enabling the Hornets to run away with the CVC Valley Division banner with a team score of only 24 points.
“Eve has really come into her own this year in running,”, said the sixth-year coach. “She started off the year a little rocky and she was like ‘Coach I am just not getting there’ and I was like ‘listen, let’s back down and slow down the pace and get miles under our belt’ and she listened, and she really started paying attention to what her body needed.”
Hilger and Kitzmiller flanked Eve by finishing in the second flight of runners, keeping the Huskies in the hunt for the CVC Valley Division banner. Ultimately, Kirtland’s fourth and fifth runners were not too far behind and finished at the top of the leader board but Cardinal still persevered for a second-place finish, holding off Fairview by just two points.
On the boys’ side, the young Berkshire Badgers dazzled by finishing in third place with a team score of 78 points with a 5-12-16-22-23 finish.
“That is what we were talking about all year,” said Badgers’ Coach Bryan Wadsworth. “This year we wanted to go out and make a statement that there are a bunch of young guys who are hungry and coming so it was a great experience for the young guys, and we are excited about the future.”
Berkshire will also race in the OHSAA Division II district meet this Saturday at Madison High School at 11:30 a.m. for one of seven coveted team berths to qualify for the regional meet.
Sophomore Danny Auth took fifth place with a time of 17:24.05, followed by freshman Will Slattery who clocked in at 12th place with a time of 18:23.02, junior Quinlan Sirl earned 16th place with a time of 18:47.35, freshman Milo Morgan-Ard wrapped up 22nd place with a time of 19:23.39 and sophomore Ayden Warner snagged 23rd place with a time of 19:26.99.
Newest CVC Valley Division member Fairview set the bar high by having five runners place in the top 11 to score only 31 points. Although Berkshire’s runners could not keep pace with the Warriors, their pack-running strategy paid dividends as their fourth, fifth and sixth runners crossed the finish line within seconds of each other to earn a gritty third place.
“We had a number of guys step up and run personal records,” said Wadsworth. “Three out of our top five ran a personal record, we did want to pack it in with a bunch of 18s but it did not quite happen, but we are happy with their effort.”
On a team filled with no seniors, it was the sophomore Auth who paced Berkshire by finishing in fifth place.
“Danny has more in the tank too,” noted the second-year coach. “Danny is in his first year running and he is still learning how to do this, and we are excited to see what Danny can do next week. He has a lot left in him.”
