Locals show out for top spots at annual Belpre XC Invitational
Trending
BELPRE -- The course at Saturday's Belpre Cross Country Invitational seemed to take on a different look once Ripley's Ellie Hosaflook took off from the starting line.
"It seemed really long when we walked the course to know what it was like, but during the race is seemed to go really fast -- and it was fast, flat and fast," said Hosaflook, who finished third in a girls field consisting of 128 runners.
The junior's first experience with the course at Civitan Park resulted in a time of 19:27, which followed the winner's time of 18:46 turned in by Athens freshman Sophia Szolosi. Morgantown placed five runners in the top 8 and claimed the team championship with 21 points. The Mohigans were paced by runner-up finisher Amelia Summers (19:04).
Warren's sixth place in the team standing represented the highest finish by a local school.
"The first mile I was able to stay with the leaders and then by the third mile I fell back, but the final 800 meters I started to kick it in," Hosaflook said. "I've been running in the 20s, so today is a PR for the season. This year, some races are bad and some races are good. I just have to find my old, competitive self back.
"I know if someone passes me, I just have to pass them back."
The top 25 placewinners in both the girls and boys races were recognized as medalists. Area girls falling into that category included Marietta's Ava Gebczyk (21:39) finishing in 19th place and Belpre's Shy Miller (21:48) occupying the 22nd position.
For Szolosi, the freshman successfully made the transition from participating in previous Belpre Invitationals for the junior high two-mile races to this year's 5K event.
"Today wasn't that bad considering in middle school we didn't have very low miles, so as our miles built up in high school the transition from the two mile to the three mile was pretty easy because you become a stronger runner," Szolosi said. "I got out pretty fast -- I didn't want to get out in a sprint because that isn't how the race is won. I knew I wanted to stay with the Morgantown girls because they have a pretty fast group. That was my goal for the first mile.
"About the two mile mark I started to make my move. The girl behind me, I tried to listen to her breathing and thought is she not pushing it at all."
On the boys side, Lancaster swept the top three individual finishes with runners sharing the same last name. Isaiah Lanoy won in a time of 16:03.23, followed by Kaiden Lanoy (16:03.49) and Trevor Lanoy (16:05).
Marietta's Ezra Minard (16:10) embraced the challenged to compete against an elite field, which consisted of 188 runners, and placed fourth. Teammate Kasy Science (16:54) crossed the finish line in 14th place and gave the Tigers two medalists.
"I was planning to go out slower than normal and hang with the pack, and when I hit two miles I surged and jumped into the top 5," Minard said. "I just toughed it out in the end.
"There is a lot of good competition here, especially with Lancaster and Wheeling Park. This is the kind of competition I will have later on so it is good to get the practice in."
Local runners also placing in the top 25 included Federal Hocking's Evan McPherson (8th, 16:27), Eastern's Brayden O'Brien (11th, 16:39) and Belpre's Carter Norman (18th, 17:12).
When Belpre's top runner Blake Rodgers failed to finish, Norman stepped up and paced a youthful Golden Eagle lineup.
"I tried to stay with the elite pack and at the end I try to pick off some people, get a nice time and a nice place," Norman said. "I was sitting about 25th and think I picked off around five people in that last stretch. I need to work on my last mile, definitely. My first two miles have been great and on that last mile when you are getting tired you just need to keep going hard.
"I love this race. A small town of Belpre. Population of about 6,000 people and when you get another 2,000 people down here for our little meet, it's a great thing to see."
Of the 17 teams qualifying for the team standings, Lancaster won with 22 points. Wheeling Park followed as runners-up with 60 points. Rounding out the top 5 were Morgantown (112), Marietta (128) and Belpre (179).
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com