Rockets reign at muddy district

Maplewood’s boys and girls captured district cross country titles in Division III.

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

BAZETTA — Just outside the finish line, as Poland sophomore Abby Brenoel was slogging through a muddy finish in Saturday’s Division II district meet, two Bulldog classmates started cheering her on.

“Don’t slow down!” they said. “Sprint to the finish!”

Brenoel glanced over, waved her arm in dismissal and cracked them up by saying, “Shut your face.”

Yes, it was that kind of day at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds, where three straight weekends of hosting cross country meets — combined with Friday night’s downpour and a racetrack that was producing 1.6 percent of the world’s mud — made for one of those days that inspired runners to think, “If I lose a shoe, it’s staying there.”

(This actually happened.)

In the midst of the mess, one team reigned supreme. Led by junior Krystal Williams’ first-place finish, the Maplewood girls took four of the top six spots to cruise to the Division III team title with 36 points.

The Rocket boys did even better, placing five in the top nine to win the boys title with 26 points.

“I always tell them, ‘I like things that slow a race down because there’s so many people that get upset about it,’” Maplewood boys coach Ted Rupe said. “If you get discouraged about some obstacle on a course, like a hill or mud or something like that, then it ends up psychologically hurting your race.

“And if you just go into saying, ‘Hey, this is going to slow other guys down and it’s going to help me,’ then I think that’s the best way to look at hindrances like that.”

Rupe, whose team is ranked second in the state in Division III, took the district crown with a grain of salt, knowing his main competition, third-ranked McDonald, was missing two of its top three runners. (One for rest, the other for a fever.)

Next week’s regional meet at Boardman High will be a better test, he said.

“They’re [McDonald] really going to be ready for next week and the state meet and we know better than to overlook them,” Rupe said.

Even with the relaxed approach, Blue Devil freshman Patrick Kunkel (with teammate Jerry Dugan cheering him on from outside the ropes) managed to pull away from Maplewood senior Eric Rupe for the individual crown.

“Coach told me he doesn’t me to get into a dogfight, so I’m glad Eric didn’t go too fast because I didn’t want to be racing to the finish and get really tired,” Kunkel said. “This course has been torn up the last three Saturdays.

“It really poops you out.”

Ryan Roush placed fifth and Tim Nichols was 10th to lead South Range to third and a spot in next week’s meet.

In Division II, Lakeview senior Butchy Brannan placed third to lead the Bulldogs to fourth and the final team qualifying spot. Poland finished an area-best third, led by senior Sean Murphy (eighth).

Poland did even better in the girls race, finishing second to Mantua Crestwood thanks to a third-place finish from senior Anna Pompeo.

The Bulldogs hadn’t raced since finishing second to Canfield in their league meet on Oct. 6.

“We like to wait until after the league meet, so we can get fresh mentally and be ready to have a good performance,” Bulldogs coach Kim Grisdale said.

The rest, combined with a strategy of going easy in the sloppy parts and fast in the good footing — similar to a Fartlek workout, which is the type of word that earns nods in the running community and chuckles everywhere else — paid off for the Bulldogs as they placed five in the top 20.

They also got moral support from Grisdale, who wore a T-shirt and shorts in the chilly, windy weather.

“If I expect them to do it, then I need to do it, too,” said Grisdale, who donned a hooded sweatshirt soon after the race finished.

Southeast freshman Quinn Sparks finished seventh to lead the Pirates to third and a spot in the regional meet.

In Division III, Lowellville senior Monica Ciarniello placed second and McDonald freshman Sarah Jones placed fourth to break up the Rockets’ pack and help their teams advance.

McDonald was second and Lowellville third. South Range placed fifth to grab the last spot.

Williams passed Ciarniello around the one-mile mark and was never in danger of losing the lead.

“I know I don’t have that great of a finish, like a hard, strong kick, so I knew I had to gain space to keep the lead,” Williams said.

And the conditions?

“Well, it’s hard,” she said. “It’s kind of fun, though. You don’t worry so much about your time, but how you’re placing and how you’re racing.”

Most of Saturday’s finishers are now resting comfortably knowing their mud-racing days are done ... for at least a few months. But for the Rockets — and a host of other area teams — there’s plenty of work ahead.

“We knew we had to race hard today and I think we all did,” Williams said. “We’re pretty excited about [the district title] and we know going into regionals we’ve got to keep racing hard like we did today.”

scalzo@vindy.com