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A league of their own: McDonald, Canfield win titles
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EMERGING FROM THE PACK: Brookfield junior Angie Kirila maneuvers through the pack during Tuesday’s Suburban League championships at the Canfield Fairgrounds. She finished first.
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back in front: Boardman senior Sam Deskin cruises at the front of the pack en route to his second straight individual title at Tuesday’s Suburban League championships at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
Boardman senior Sam Deskin and Brookfield junior Angie Kirila won individual crowns.
By Joe Scalzo
CANFIELD —A few minutes after Tuesday’s Suburban League championship race ended, as Angie Kirila was still catching her breath between gulps of water, her father looked at her and said, “You look gray.”
“I feel gray,” the Brookfield junior said. “I got toward the end and somebody was like, ‘Oh, there’s 400 [meters] left’ and I was like, ‘Oh, I got this.’
“And then I kept going and when I got there, they’re like, ‘Oh, there’s only 400 left’ and I was like, ‘What?’”
Fortunately, Kirila also had plenty left. After a summer of intense training — she ran both a half-marathon and a mini-triathlon — Kirila has made the jump from being a decent runner to one of the area’s elite.
Tuesday’s race was just the latest evidence, as she finished in 20:08.77 to edge Poland’s Anna Pompeo (20:11.25) for the individual title at the Canfield Fairgrounds.
“That training made me so much more confident,” Kirila said. “Now I’m looking to win and not just trying to beat my time every race.”
Canfield’s girls edged McDonald for the team title, while McDonald’s boys snapped Boardman’s five-year reign atop the standings. Boardman senior Sam Deskin repeated as boys individual champion.
Kirila won her three regular season Suburban League meets, so it’s not like Tuesday’s win was stunning. But considering she finished 89th in this race last year with a time of 24:25.08, and considering Brookfield isn’t exactly known as a cross country power, her improvement is nothing short of incredible.
Plus, she did it all with her shoe untied.
“Like a mile into it, I realized it was untied and I was just thinking, ‘Pretend like everyone else’s shoe is untied and it’s all fair,’” she said.
Not far behind, Canfield junior Nicole Tiberio and freshman Emma Lunne and Jennifer Love formed a formidable pack. All three finished in the top 10, helping Canfield claim its first league title in years.
“Our top three girls have been carrying us all year and the other ones sort of take turns,” said Canfield coach Doug Weitzman, whose team went unbeaten in its regular season meets. “The girls set their egos aside and do what we’ve have to do.
“We’re happy. We’ve been gearing toward this all year.”
Canfield finished fourth at this event last year — the Cardinals dropped their score from 183 to 67, no small feat — and Weitzman knew his team would be in the mix for a top three finish with Maplewood and McDonald.
“At the mile mark, I knew we were in good shape,” said Weitzman, whose team edged McDonald by 14 points and Maplewood by 39. “At the two-mile mark, I was nervous because our three through six girls went out way faster than they should have, so I had to make sure they could hang on.
“With Maplewood and McDonald here, we knew we had to run like crazy to win.”
The same was true for Boardman’s boys. The Spartans have had a stranglehold on the top spot for a half-decade, but McDonald coach Chris Rupe thought either his Blue Devils or the Rockets had a chance to change that on Tuesday.
“I was hoping one of us would try to beat Boardman because I felt like one or the other could,” said Rupe. “If Maplewood was going to hammer it today, we were going to let them have it. When they didn’t, we went for it.
“We haven’t beaten them [Boardman] for awhile, so that’s cool.”
Deskin, who lowered his winning time from 16:28.85 last year to 15:58.37 this year, got Boardman off to a good start by winning the individual title by more than 50 seconds over his summer training partner, Poland’s Sean Murphy.
“He’s been dropping lots of time and I was kind of nervous he was going to come out here and run,” said Deskin, whose teammate, Eddie Adu-Poku, placed third. “And I was kind of motivated after the Spartan Invitational on Saturday. I kind of didn’t do so hot, so I got ticked off and took it personal.
“I ran hard from the start.”
Alas, Boardman placed second behind McDonald, 56-82. The Blue Devils placed four in the top 12 and all five in the top 20, once again displaying the depth that has made them a state power for more than a decade.
“We’ve got a nice pack of guys, no doubt about it,” said Rupe. “They run well together and I like watching that.”
scalzo@vindy.com