CROSS COUNTRY Mooney headed to state: successful appeal needed

Girard's Bobby Caldwell, West Branch's Jeff Sarchione and Salem's Patrick Gorby qualified as individuals in Div. II.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
The Cardinal Mooney High boys cross country team is going to the state meet. Officially.
After a grueling Saturday that involved tournament officials reviewing the entire Division II boys regional race, the Cardinals grabbed the sixth and final team qualifying spot for Saturday's state meet.
Salem, which was originally in sixth when the first results came in, did not qualify.
"We're excited to be going, but I feel bad for Salem," said Mooney coach Adrian Mangino. "That's a tough pill to swallow."
Mooney and Salem originally tied for sixth, with the Quakers winning the tie-breaker on their sixth runner. But when Mooney sophomore Colin Durina went to pick up his individual award for finishing fourth, he was given a fifth-place medal.
Review requested
Mangino, realizing Durina had finished fourth, asked tournament director Jim Fox to review the race results, even though the 10-minute appeal period had passed.
"It's very unusual for [a change] to happen after the appeal period, but I didn't know anything was wrong until I saw the results," Mangino said. "I didn't think we should be penalized for that."
Fox agreed, and after race officials reviewed the results for several hours on Saturday, Mooney was officially awarded the sixth spot at about 10:30 p.m. -- eight hours after the race concluded.
The Cardinals are making their first state meet appearance since winning the Div. II state title in 1999. Team members include Durina, Dan Finnerty, Ben Garchar, Noah Brak and Brian Stevens.
Girard senior Bobby Caldwell, West Branch senior Jeff Sarchione and Salem freshman Patrick Gorby qualified as individuals in Div. II.