43
Howland’s Sullivan finds his stride
Photo
Howland’s Ryan Sullivan sprints to the finish line at the Suburban League cross country championship Tuesday at the Canfield Fairgrounds. Sullivan won the individual race with a time of 16:27.12.
By Kevin Connelly
CANFIELD
Sometimes defeat can be the best motivator.
Such has been the case for Howland senior Ryan Sullivan, who in his previous years of running cross country conceded that his Division III rival Bobby Johnson had always gotten the better of him.
This summer, knowing he had one last year to reverse his fortune, he decided he was going to do something about it.
“This year, I did a lot more work in the summer,” Sullivan said. “A lot faster work, a lot harder, and I made sure I put in a lot more miles this year.”
On Tuesday, as has been the case all season, the extra work paid off in the form of a Suburban League individual race championship at the Canfield Fairgrounds with a time of 16:27.12.
The second place runner was McDonald’s Johnson, finishing about 11 seconds behind Sullivan.
“Me and Bobby have been racing since the beginning of cross country and he’s always been a great competitor,” Sullivan said. “He’s always been a little bit ahead of me every year and finally this year I caught up to him.”
Johnson, who was fresh off a Spartan Invitational Div. III victory on Saturday, said he wasn’t sure what he was going to do coming into the race.
“It was tough,” he said. “I didn’t feel my best today for sure, but [Sullivan] definitely just had me at the end.
“But it’s fun to run against these D1 schools and just be able to come in here as little McDonald and be able to try and compete with them today.”
Allen Sparks of Champion finished in third.
One the girls side, United senior Allison Parks won fairly comfortably with a time of 20:06.95, nine seconds ahead of Boardman’s Jordan Grantonic. She led for most of the 3.1 mile race.
Senior Carissa Jenkins of Austintown Fitch came in third.
The boys team championship was a two-team race between Canfield and Howland. Both schools’ top five runners finished in the first 20 individually, but the Cardinals had three in the top seven to earn the team award.
“We knew it was going to be close between us and Howland,” Canfield coach Doug Weitzman said. “Boardman obviously is the class of the league, their schedule doesn’t dictate for them to race today and we understand that because we’re all in that situation at different times.
“But our kids did a good job. We’re proud of the fact that they won and it’s just one step on the ladder, we tell them.”
The next meaningful step for all teams will be the district tournament on Oct. 19.
Despite Tuesday’s race being in Canfield, Weitzman said his team doesn’t really enjoying running there.
“The times aren’t the greatest out here,” he said. “It’s a tough course, the officials like a tough course because they can spread out the field.”
The Boardman girls team had an impressive run with five finishing in the top 15 overall. They ran away with the team title over second-place Howland.