Boardman runners win Sweeney Invitational

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Neighbors | Submitted.Junior Fletcher Dunham competes in the Ray Sweeney Invitational. The Spartans finished first out of 15 schools.

Sophomore Mark Hadley took first overall out of 173 runners at The Ray Sweeney Invitational at Champion High School in Warren. Hadley’s time of 16:28 was impressive considering the condition of the course due to heavy rain prior to the start of the race.

“It was a mess in many areas of the course, so Mark’s time is really a solid performance,” said Boardman head coach John Phillips.

The Spartans finished first out of 15 schools, improving their season mark to 38-0 overall. Aiding in Boardman’s score was fellow sophomore Alan Burns at 17:26, which was good enough for second overall. He was followed by classmate Justin Maroni at 17:41, which earned the Spartan runner fifth place.

“We really had a great day,” said Phillips. “Rather than take the mud and rain as an excuse not to perform well, we just went out and had some fun.”

Also finishing high for the Spartans were junior Sam Sheronovich in 12th place with a time of 18:12 and classmate Pete Stafford at 18:30, which was 13th overall in the race. Freshman Nick Long took 20th overall in a personal-best time of 19:07, junior Ryan Key finished 21st in 19:09, and freshman Juan Santiago was 22nd overall with a time of 19:13.

Setting new personal bests at Champion were Long, freshman Andrew Cessna at 23:20 and sophomore Johnny Metzger at 23:23. Also setting a new personal best is first-year runner and sophomore Devin DiPiero at 24:59. DiPiero’s efforts the last two meets earned him this week’s “Runner of the Week” award.