CROSS COUNTRY Boardman secures boys and girls titles

The Spartans' Tom Albani and West Branch's Lisa Davies were the top runners at the Mahoning County meet.
By JOHN BUTERA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AUSTINTOWN -- With Tom Albani repeating as boys champion and the Boardman girls getting a strong team effort, the Spartans swept the boys and girls Mahoning County Cross Country Championships Tuesday at Austintown Township Park.
The Spartans edged South Range 61-67 in the girls race, while Canfield (72), Fitch (82) and Mooney (83) finished behind. Struthers, Poland and Jackson-Milton rounded out the field.
Running away: It was evident early that the girls individual race would be no contest as West Branch's Lisa Davies came away with a victory somewhat larger than Secretariat's effort in the 1973 Belmont.
The junior had a 30-meter lead at about the 1,000-meter pole, and by the time she was at 1,600 meters, she had opened up an edge of 40 meters. She finished at 19:34.3, slightly off her best of 19:25.
"I knew the competition coming in since I'd already run against them about four times, except for South Range," said Davies, who finished fourth at state last year.
"We were coming off of meets last Tuesday and Saturday, so with running that much, I knew my time would be off just a little."
South Range senior Julie Nemergut realized it would be Davies' race.
"I knew that, unless something unexpected happened to Lisa, I would be running for second place and that's what I really wanted," Nemergut said. "I was definitely happy finishing in that position."
Spartan representatives: Boardman's top individual runner was Brittany Durkin, who finished third, while teammate Gina Mavrikis was sixth.
Allison Brager (18th), Robyn Repko (19th), Melissa Davner (20th) and Kristen Lauer (21) keyed the Spartans. Boardman's Bridget Beachy finished 24th.
"I thought we had a pretty good chance coming in," Boardman coach Pam Kimmel said. "The top five teams had beaten us at one time or another. The girls were fresh tonight, and it was our pack who really came through."
Boardman easily outdistanced Fitch 33-60 to win the boys race.
Mooney finished third (106), and Canfield (111) and Struthers (149) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
South Range, West Branch, Poland, Springfield and Ursuline rounded out the field.
Adding another: Albani shaved 22 seconds of his winning time of last year to follow last week's wins in the Suburban League championships and Columbiana Invitational. Albani finished in 16:22.41. Mooney's Joe Taylor took second with a 16:47.97.
"All things considered, I was very happy with my time today," Albani said. "I felt pressured coming in to defend my title, and I always feel pushed with Taylor and [Springfield's David] Mealy always hugging on me."
Time-wise, Albani said he had set no goal coming into the race, saying, "I just wanted to defend my championship."
Mealy was third, while Fitch's Shawn Williams was fourth and Ross Waller of Boardman fifth.