Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Maplewood and McDonald finished 1-2 for the Division III team title.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- Jackson-Milton senior Luke McCluggage won his first race of the season.
Then he won again.
And again.
And ... well, you see where this is going.
"I'm undefeated right now," McCluggage, who cruised to Saturday's Division III regional title at Boardman High School, said. "If I went 14-1, I think I'd be a little sad."
McCluggage finished sixth at last year's state meet -- a surprisingly good finish, although he was already emerging as the area's best runner -- and followed that up with a third-place finish in the 1600-meter run at the state track meet.
Even then, he was thinking about winning the state cross country title.
"If you run to win and you don't," he said at the time, "it's better than running for second."
Five months later, he'll get his chance when he returns to Scioto Downs in Columbus.
"Now I can focus on one thing," he said. "I haven't really been challenged this year, so it makes me a little nervous."
His time at last week's district meet -- 15:48 -- was just one second off last year's winning time at the state meet. He may not be the favorite -- that honor belongs to Stryker senior Braden Martinez, who finished second in the state last year -- but he has a chance.
"I know he's the one to beat," McCluggage said of Martinez. "But I'm not worried about that. I just have to run my own race."
Nice finish
Maplewood freshman Andy Arnio used a strong finish to lead Maplewood to a surprise upset of McDonald for the Div. III team title.
"We just did what we came to do," Arnio said. "We ran our race and came out with the victory."
Arnio, of course, was not a member of last year's state championship team, and the Rockets were not expected to challenge for the regional title after losing four seniors from last year's team.
"We didn't expect anything," Arnio said.
Needless to say, they were pleasantly surprised. But McDonald -- the top-ranked team in the state -- will still be favored to win its third title in the past five years. The Blue Devils, who finished as runners-up in 2000 and 2002, won the title in 1999 and 2001.
South Range junior Dan Nemergut took advantage of the nice weather and a strong fan club to finish second behind McCluggage.
"I don't like the cold and I thought it was gonna be bad," said Nemergut, who finished 32nd at last year's state meet. "I'm very happy with my finish."
His sister, Julie, had a rare weekend off from running at Edinboro and came home to cheer on her brother while carrying a sign that read, "Do it Danimal." Still, he took a few minutes after the race to rest before receiving congratulations.
"I'd rather relax," he said with a smile.
Division II
Mooney sophomore Colin Durina finished fourth as the Cardinals will likely make their first trip to the state meet since winning the Division II title in 1999.
Results of the race were still not official due to an appeal.
"I just wanted to make it," Durina said. "That's all I cared about. I was looking for Top 10. I didn't care about my time."
Durina finished 45th at last year's regional and has improved dramatically over the past year. He's not sure why.
"It's the same training as last year," he said with a shrug. "I guess it's just me."
Girard senior Bobby Caldwell, who finished 53rd at last year's state meet, added a weight training program in the offseason and used his newfound strength to finish fifth.
He's the first Indian to make it to the state meet since the Indians won the Div. III title in 2000.
"I just stuck with the big guys," Caldwell said. "All I wanted to do was make it. I went down my freshman year and I didn't know how bad I wanted to run until I got there."
Caldwell tried to pace off of Durina. He did not, however, tried to keep up with Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary senior Matt Buzek, who took first and won last year's state title.
"The kid is not even human," Caldwell said with a laugh.
scalzo@vindy.com