Lowellville’s Ciarniello an army of one

By Mark W. Miller

The junior won the Div. III race at the Spartan Invitational by almost a minute.

BOARDMAN — Although it didn’t have a boys or girls team in Division III at the Spartan Invitational, Lowellville High did have Monica Ciarniello.

She led from start to finish with a time (19 minutes, 59.3 seconds) almost a minute better that Canton Central Catholic’s Christina Oprean (20:52), who was second in a field of 304 athletes at the Boardman High course.

Gilmour Academy won the team title with 148 points.

It rained throughout the day, but Ciarniello said, “I take whatever it gives [weather] because I love to run.

“I just wanted to get out fast and see what happened. I ran at a consistent pace and with 300 meters left, I finished strong.”

The junior carries a 4.0 grade point average. Her best time this season was 19:48. She wants to lower that to 18:30 and hopes to earn a berth to state and place in the top five.

Coach Jerry Tarcy, who started the Lowellville cross country program six years ago, said Ciarniello is the best runner he’s had.

“She polite, mannerly and everything you want in a student athlete,” said Tarcy. “She takes it a race at a time and hopefully she progresses and peaks at the right time.”

Columbiana’s Stephanie Case (20:59.9), Jackson-Milton’s Samantha Hamilton (21:00) and East Palestine’s Leighann Kelvington (21:49) finished fourth, fifth and 12th respectively.

McDonald High’s boys, which finished second at this event last year, won the boys Div. III title with 66 points. St. Thomas Aquinas, first in 2007, finished second with 68.

The Blue Devils were led bys Jerry Dugan (17:54.3), who was 10th; Josh LaPolla (18:03.8), 12th; Lancer Ronghi (18:04.4), 13th; Bobby Devita (18:09.7), 15th and Mitchell Thornton (18:11.8), 16th.

“It [the weather] was terrible out there, but fun even though our times were low,” said Dugan. “This was like a regional preview with a lot of good competition.”

East Palestine’s David Chick (17:32.7), Maplewood’s Eric Rupe (17:45) and Tom Bottorff (17:48.4) placed sixth, eighth and ninth respectively.

Boardman’s boys placed sixth in Div. I with 221 points. Canfield was 24th with 625. Twinsburg was team champ with 112.

Boardman’s Sam Deskin (18.16.3) placed eighth in the field of 235 runners. Julian Meyer (17:15.2) of Richfield Revere took first place.

In the boys Div. II run, Woodridge placed first with 84 points. Lakeview was seventh with 254 and Mooney 13th.

Lakeview’s Tyler Ames (17:27.2) and Heath Harris (18:01.6) finished third and 10th respectively. The race was won by Kyle Sullinger (17:04) of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.

The Boardman High girls were 12th in Div. I with 313 points.

Canfield was 23rd with 662. Medina was team champion with 87.

The Spartans’ Lauren Agnew (23:04.7) and Katie Heney (23:11.1) were 25th and 31st, while Canfield’s Nicole Tiberio (23:08) was 29th. Angela Williams (21:14) of Hudson took first place.

In the Div. II girls run, Salem was sixth with 217 points and Poland 13th with 391.

The Quakers’ Lauren Shivers (21:59.5) and Lexi Shivers (22:53.7) took seventh and 34th place, while Mooney’s Christine Oles (22:54.1) was 35th. CVCA’s Katie Gillespie (19:42.6) placed first.