MAHONING COUNTY CROSS COUNTRY Durkin winner of a run that was fun

Jackson-Milton junior Luke McCluggage cruised to the boys individual title.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- On Tuesday, Brittany Durkin got three cups of water thrown in her face (after her race), two predictions of victory (before her race) and several shouts of encouragement (during her race).
So it was no surprise that the Boardman High junior had a good time after winning the Mahoning County cross country meet at Boardman High School.
The surprise was that she also had a good time during the meet.
Durkin paced with West Branch senior Lisa Davies for most of the race -- they were actually laughing at one point -- before winning with a time of 20 minutes, 40 seconds.
Her teammate, senior Monica Cuevas, finished second (20:41) and Davies took third (20:42). Mooney's Val Zajac placed fourth and Canfield's Mara Boak was fifth.
Along the way
"I never ran with Lisa before -- she's always been 100 feet ahead of me," Durkin, who placed third at last year's county meet, said. "She helped me a lot."
Davies gave Durkin the inside on most of the lanes, gave her tips on her running form and even joked about some of the comments from the fans.
"I've never really laughed during a race," Durkin, who qualified for last year's state meet, said. "It was fun. She's a first-class girl."
Boardman won the girls and boys team titles for the second straight year. The Spartan girls narrowly edged Struthers 56-57 and the Spartan boys beat South Range 66-81.
Jackson-Milton junior Luke McCluggage cruised to the boys individual title, running a time of 16:57 to beat South Range's Dan Nemergut by more than 20 seconds.
McCluggage actually ran a better time at last week's Suburban League Championship at Boardman, where he finished third.
"I just cruised today," he said.
He finished 18th at last year's county meet and said his biggest improvement over the past year has been mental.
Confidence factor
"I didn't have it up here," he said, pointing to his head. "I didn't think I could beat some of the better runners in the area, so I didn't try. Qualifying for state [in track last spring] gave me a lot of confidence."
West Branch's Matt Scott placed third, Mooney's Erik Moss took fourth and Boardman's Jim Hlebak was fifth.
McCluggage has won six races this year, but this was the biggest. When asked if he was doing anything to celebrate, he just smiled and pointed at some cups of water.
"I'm going to get something to drink," he said.
scalzo@vindy.com