The Crestwood Red Devil girls’ cross country team looked the part of a postseason contender at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III district meet. The Red Devil girls captured the Division III district banner, scoring 62.0 points with a 2-7-8-16-29 finish last Saturday at Madison High School.
“Obviously to win a district championship is special particularly for that group at the moment, but this has been a solid, consistent, and competitive team so we went in thinking we can win it and we ran well and we did and got our goal,” said Coach Jim Schweickert.
It marked the Red Devils’ second district banner in the last three years, and they will continue a memorable season by competing for a state berth when they race at the OHSAA Division III regional meet at Boardman High School on Saturday afternoon at 1:40 p.m.
“The top four teams in that region, we have raced all of them,” noted the 13-year coach. “We have beat a couple of them at some point. We beat Marlington mid-year, and Woodridge beat us by eight points at the Boardman Invitational so it could be an incredibly close race.”
Last Saturday, the Red Devils were led by freshman Luci Maschek, who finished as the runner-up with a personal best of 18:21.60, followed by senior Maddie Grace Gonczy who took seventh place with a personal record of 18:46.10, senior Piper Seibold netted eighth place with a personal best of 18:46.40, senior Piper Freedline secured 16th place with a personal record of 20:15.50 and sophomore Abby Pfost came in 30th place with a time of 21:10.30.
The Red Devils fended off Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division rival Berkshire by 10 points, as Crestwood had three runners finish in the top 10, pacing them to a district banner.
According to Schweickert, Crestwood once again finished strong in the second half of the race, as several Red Devil runners surged late, with four of the top five runners finishing with a personal best time.
“We told them that they needed to go for it, it was a flat course, and we wanted to try to win so we needed them to go for it and they did,” he noted. “I don’t think we got out quite as fast as others on the course, but we finished strong.”
He added that Maschek ran with the top flight of runners from the beginning of the race, but Hathaway Brown junior Caroline Valentino maintained a firm lead throughout the race. He noted that Maschek lagged at the halfway point of the race but kicked late to pick off Orange junior Marina Campbell and junior Gabby Byrne from Chagrin Falls to seize second place in her first high school district race.
“She went out with the leaders and there was a little bit of a sizeable group for the first ¾ of a mile,” he said. “They opened a lead, but she stuck with them and ended up catching Gabby Byrne. Luci is not going to cave in and give up because of a gap.”
On the boys’ side, the Berkshire Badgers continued a strong season of pack-running by taking second place with a team score of 95.0 points with a 9-13-19-23-31 finish.
“We still have some left in the tank,” said Coach Bryan Wadsworth. “We are going to see what happens at the regional meet but that was a great thing to bring some hardware home and put in the trophy case as district runners-up here in 2026.”
It marked the first time since the 2014 season that the Badger boys’ cross country team captured the district runners-up trophy, and will seek to net a state berth when they compete in the OHSAA Division III Regional Meet at Boardman High School on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m.
“We think we can do it,” added the fourth-year coach. “We haven’t even started our taper yet and when that kicks in, the legs will feel better and we will get faster times.”
On Saturday, Berkshire was led by senior Danny Auth, who came in ninth place with a personal record of 16:41.90, followed by junior Aiden Hollingsworth, who netted 13th place with a personal best of 16:47.70, freshman Ben Townsend captured 19th place with a time of 17:01.90, sophomore Tripp Wadsworth wrapped up 23rd place at 17:15.30 and sophomore Evan Tromba secured 32nd place with a time of 17:37.60.
A week after Berkshire edged CVC Valley Division Conference rival Chagrin Falls for the league title, the Tigers returned the favor, emerging triumphant with their second straight Division III district banner as three of their runners finished in the top 10.
The Badgers may have had only one runner finish in the top 10 in Auth, but their spread was the lowest out of all the qualifying teams, as the top five runners were only separated by 55.70 seconds. Coach Wadsworth credited Berkshire’s low spread to enjoying a fast start, which was crucial for the Badgers to maintain a team lead throughout.
Auth was the Badgers’ lead runner, pacing the team with a career-best race.
“As a senior, he is stepping up and he is a quiet leader for us and he has stepped up during practices and is leading and it is great to see,”, Coach Wadsworth said. “He has progressed over the last couple of years, and I am so happy for him to be where he is at right now in his last year of cross country.”
