Boys cross country takes second

Boardman’s Nick Long raced to a third place finish in a personal best time of 16:58, out of one hundred and forty nine competitors, to lead the Spartans to a second place finish at The Mahoning County Cross Country Championship on Sept. 23 at Austintown Township Park.

Boardman finished behind host Fitch and did not place first for the first time in 13 years. Canfield was third overall with South Range, West Branch, Struthers, Poland, Ursuline, Jackson-Milton, Springfield, Lowellville and Sebring completing the teams that ran.

The Spartans placed seven runners in the top thirty and placed three of the top ten scoring spots to earn runners up; following Long was junior Ethan Schwendeman in sixth place in a time of 17:00 and senior Juan Santiago in tenth place in a time of 17:32. They were followed by sophomore Nathaniel Ams in 17th in a time of 17:41, junior Adam Deeley 24th overall in 18:13, sophomore Chris Butler in 29th place at 18:33 and sophomore Nick DiGiacomo in 30th in a time of 18:35.

“We really wanted to challenge Fitch today,” said Spartan Head Coach John Phillips. “We certainly did not want our 12 year run to end, but I am very satisfied with our effort and improvement the last two weeks. Fitch has a very good team this year and we need to keep pace with them in order to make a run at districts.”

Setting new personal bests at the Austintown course were Long, Schwendeman and senior Andrew Cessna qt 21:25.

This weeks BW3 ‘Runner of the Week’ award was given to Long for setting a new personal best time and breaking into the 16’s for the first time.