Cross country begins season with a win

The Boardman Spartan Cross Country team began their season on Aug. 29 by winning the George Clements Invitational at University School in suburban Cleveland.

Leading the Spartans was senior Nathan Hadley finishing third overall out of 196 varsity and junior varsity runners in a time of 16:14. Finishing next for the Spartans was senior Ethan Schwendeman in a time of 17:28 which placed him sixth overall. He was followed by junior Chris Butler in a time of 17:36 which was good enough for seventh place. Junior Nathaniel Ams was next up in 16th place at 18:10 and junior Nick Digiacomo was 25th overall at 18:33.

“This was a nice confidence booster for us,” said Boardman Head Coach John Phillips. “We had a difficult 2014 season and to start off 2015 with a trophy is a great beginning for a new season.”

Scoring high for the Spartans was sophomore Luke Hetzel with a personal best time of 19:11. Hetzel’s effort earned him this week’s BW3 Runner of the Week award.

“Luke has worked hard all summer logging a lot of miles,” Phillips said. “That solid volume of miles is already paying dividends. That is what you have to do to be successful in this sport — put in the work and good things happen.”

Setting new personal bests at University School were senior Brett Brunko at 20:07, Butler, Hetzel, freshman Andrew Beichner at 23:01 and freshman Matt Welton at 24:12.