The postseason sweep is complete for the Woodridge cross country teams.
The Bulldogs concluded the 2016 season with Division II team titles at the state meet at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.
Woodridge became the fifth school in state history to win cross country team titles in each gender in the same year.
“The kids ran awesome,” Woodridge coach Jeff Howard said. “This is exciting. The nice thing about cross country is that there is nobody getting in your way. You do what you do, and our kids ran very well.
“We had really good days from our runners. We finished with four All-Ohio boys, one All-Ohio girl, nine Academic All-Ohioans. We had a really good day as a program.”
Woodridge’s boys scored 72 points. Lexington (106) and Rocky River (152) were second and third. Tuslaw (205) was seventh and St. V-M was 13th (294).
Woodridge senior Yousef Elkurd was fifth in 15:15.7. Junior Noah Perrin (17th, 16:06.3), freshman Micah Blair (18th, 16:06.4), senior Ryan Palm (25th,16:17.3) and sophomore Brayden Whited (41st, 16:30.8) also scored for the Bulldogs boys team.
Woodridge’s girls scored 88 points. Lexington (123) and Tippencanoe (139) were second and third. St. V-M (238) was seventh and Minerva (261) was eighth.
Senior twin sisters Natalie Fleming and Nicole Fleming finished 25th and 26th for Woodridge with times of 19:05.4 and 19:05.5. Junior Molly Howard (33rd, 19:15.0), freshman Libby Howard (37th, 19:17.6) and senior Clare Willett (38th, 19:18.5) also scored the Bulldogs. The Howards are the coach’s daughters.
Buckeye Valley junior Zach Kreft was first in the Division II boys race in 15:16.4 and Beachwood junior Leah Roter won the Division II girls race in 17:55.1.
St. V-M sophomore Alex Phillip was 15th in the boys race and Tuslaw teammates James Viront, Zach Wilhelm and Jacob Wenzel finished 32nd, 36th and 48th.
In the girls race, Cloverleaf senior Riley Freeland placed fifth with a time of 18:15.7. Tallmadge’s Kenna Loveless was 18th, St. V-M’s Nine Zraik was 27th, Marlington’s Alyssa Viscounte was 29th and Minerva’s Nelle Yankovich was 40th.
Division I
Solon’s boys won a title with 70 points, and Centerville’s girls won a title with 120 points.
Hudson’s boys were second with 156 points, Louisville was fifth and Medina sixth. Brunswick’s girls were fourth, Medina was sixth and Twinsburg was seventh.
Lakota East junior Dustin Horter won the boys race in 15:02.8 and Hilliard Davidson senior India Johnson won the girls race in 17:28.6.
Twinsburg sophomore Ryan Adkins placed sixth in the boys race in 15:18.1.
Lake’s Conner Delahanty, Louisville’s Zach Fresenko, Noah Murray, Noah Chaplik and Nick Chaplik, Green’s Stewart Schmidt, Hudson’s Adam Beucler and Blake Roberts, Wadsworth’s Nick Miller, Medina’s Matt Stump, Strongsville’s Jake Papish and Walsh Jesuit’s Nathaniel Ondracek each finished in the top 56 in the boys race.
Medina freshman Juliette Keller took eighth in the girls race in 18:06.4, Brunswick sophomore Felicia Pasadyn was ninth and Medina senior Tarynn Cullings was 10th.
The girls top 61 included Highland’s Kaylie Kenne, Annamarie DiGiacobbe and Jessica Bentley, Perry’s Madelyn Bartolone, Brunswick’s Emily Bardwell and Rebecca Craddock, Hudson’s Elizabeth Hinkle, Twinsburg’s Alyssa Deeds and Morgan Kelley, GlenOak’s Grace Werren, Aurora twins Olivia Grohe and Samantha Grohe and Louisville’s Morgan Cole.
Division III
The St. Thomas Aquinas boys and girls teams each placed second, with the boys scoring 120 points and the girls scoring 95 points.
Fort Loramie won the boys team state title with 97 points and Colonel Crawford junior Chad Johnson crossed first in 15:18.4. Minster won the girls team state title with 38 points and Lima Central Catholic junior Emily Sreenan took first in 18:01.8.
Garrettsville sophomore Tyler Klouda was fifth on the boys side in 15:57.6, Aquinas’ Edward Walsh was ninth and East Canton’s Demetrius Snellenberger was 12th.
In the girls race, Aquinas had three girls in the top 30: seniors Kalee Soehnlen (22nd, 19:13.1) and Kacee Soehnlen (24th, 19:15.2) and junior Hannah Soehnlen (30th, 19:23.0).
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.