CROSS COUNTRY J-M ace runs his best race

Luke McCluggage won by eight seconds in the Division III district meet.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BAZETTA -- Luke McCluggage has stopped worrying. He doesn't worry about who he's running against, or if it would be easier to run with a full team, or if he likes the course.
"It doesn't matter if I like the course," the Jackson-Milton junior said. "They're all 3.1 miles."
Last season, it wasn't McCluggage's body that hindered him as much as his mind. He wasn't sure if he could run with Maplewood and McDonald and, as a result, he didn't run his best.
He doesn't worry about that stuff anymore. And after running the race of his life Saturday, he doesn't need to.
Won by 8 seconds
McCluggage ran a time of 16:16.37, beating McDonald junior Joe Kunkel by eight seconds to place first in the Division III district meet at Trumbull County Fairgrounds.
McCluggage led a host of area runners who qualified for this Saturday's regional championship at Boardman High School.
The usual suspects won the team races -- Maplewood took first, McDonald second -- but McCluggage showed that he can run with the area's best -- and beat them.
"I think I could have run even faster," said McCluggage, who finished 12th at last year's district meet and had just one teammate at Saturday's race, said. "I think this win will give me a lot of confidence. I feel like I could get top five at state. It's up to me."
Division II
East Palestine senior Aaron Allison won the Division II title with a time of 17:00.45. He finished 23rd last year to just miss qualifying for the regional meet -- something that motivated him for this season.
"I really wanted to make it out," he said. "This was the best race I ever had. I didn't have a lot left at the end, but I knew the guys behind me had a good kick so I wanted to hold them off. I was scared, to tell you the truth."
Mooney senior Erik Moss placed fifth to lead the Cardinals to their second district title in three years.
"We ran great as a team," Moss said. "Our ultimate goal is to make it to state and we're going to use this to build confidence for next week. We want to run a great race at regionals."
The Cardinals lost Joe Taylor to graduation last year and Moss is the lone senior among Mooney's top five runners.
"He's been our team leader since the first day," Mooney coach Adrian Mangino said. "He's really stepped it up this season."
Girls
West Branch seniors Megan Cingcade and Lisa Davies finished 1-2 in the Div. II girls race as the Warriors finished fourth to advance to the regional meet. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy placed first.
"I haven't had a race like that all season," Cingcade, who ran a time of 19:18.08, said. "It feels great. I love running with Lisa -- I wouldn't be half the runner I am if she wasn't there to push me. She's helped me so much."
Mooney senior Val Zajac placed fifth to advance to the regional and now has a chance to earn her fourth trip to the state meet.
"She's as experienced as any runner in the state," Mangino said of Zajac. "Her times have been dropping and she's been running better every week."
There were no surprises in the Div. III race as McDonald senior Jenn Wenhold too first to lead the Blue Devils to the team title.
scalzo@vindy.com