High school cross country: Multitude of strategies pay dividends at McDonough Invitational
Runners knew they weren’t hunting for personal records Sept. 14 at the McDonough Invitational. With a wide starting line that quickly funnels to a narrow start and a double-tiered hill with a quick turnaround to go back up, runners needed to attack the course strategically.
West Geauga’s Jacob Williams took that ideology to the next level, as he went from in a large pack of runners in which he was 17th to fifth in the second mile. He picked off two more spots to finish third for his first career podium, in 17 minutes, 8 seconds.
Williams has found the right spots in the Wolverines’ first three meets this season. In this meet, he said he was focused on position, not time.
“I was trying to pick off guys when I could,” Williams said. “My strategy was to really surge at the top of the hill, cruise while going up it and try to push. A lot of people were going to be tired around then, which made it the right time to move. You have to be consistent at a course like Boardman, where the hill here is a little more strategic.”
PHOTOS: McDonough Invitational cross country, Sept. 14, 2024
Cleveland Heights’ Alex Burke took the win on his home course with a 16:48.09, with Holy Name’s Meka Balas rounding out the podium (16:59.32).
Riverside’s Mason Weber and Madison’s Owen Bottar implemented the same strategy for making their moves. The pair have had different junior seasons so far.
Weber has only finished one race so far this season for the Beavers while Bottar has been the lead runner for the Blue Streaks, finding his rhythm. However, both see their Sept. 14 results — fifth and seventh, respectively — as building points for the second half of the season.
“Today was all about finishing,” Weber said. “It’s been a tough couple of months, I had my track season cut short, I’ve had issues that have been going on. Today was more about finishing. I picked off kids, I wanted to go out fast and get to the front. It funnels fast and this was a real help for me mentally.”
Bottar added: “I wanted to get out pretty hard but reasonable. I’m kind of just getting over a head cold. I was aware of how to maintain that. Plus, maintaining at the hill and surging at the top. It’s a little more difficult because now I’m paying even more attention to how I’m running every meet.”
With Bottar’s finish, Max Kollhoff in 11th, Izaiah Siler (31st) and Ben Kollhoff (39th), Madison finished fourth as a team with GlenOak taking the team title.
A little further back in the lead group, Euclid’s Malik Hogan and South’s Ethan Scott tackled the course with a different strategy. They broke well from the start line and then elected to maintain until after the hill and make their moves through the final mile.
The strategy worked as they finished 14th and 16th respectively.
“Cleveland Heights was a real motivator for me today,” Hogan said. “I knew they had the top runner and another that was working to stay with him. I wanted to keep them in my sights at all times. My trainer was on the sideline telling me I had to go and I can’t let him down.”
Scott added: “It’s definitely not good getting stuck in a pack like that. And when you get in those sun patches, it warms up real quick and gets real hot. But once I broke through and got up that hill, I was making as many moves as possible.”
In the girls race, Cleveland Heights freshmen Jayda Davis and Kassadi Thompson broke early and both were on the podium, with Davis completing the home meet sweep for the Tigers. Panagiot Tzouloufis of GlenOak split the pair for the runner-up spot as the Golden Eagles also took home the team title.
South’s Tillie O’Donnell continued her trend to start the season, battling for positions at the line. This time North Royalton’s Haris Giannakidis beat her by five hundredths of a second. O’Donnell settled for ninth with a 21:25.72.
O’Donnell said maintaining her pace was more important than early positioning. She focused on running the best race for her on the challenging course.
“That hill was really diabolical,” O’Donnell said. “When I got to the top, I slowed down so much. But then after I got past the two-mile mark, it was all new since we weren’t looping around the same area again. It was refreshing and made me push more. My dad ran here like 45 years ago, and he remembers how tough that hill can be so he gave me a good heads up about it.”
Riverside freshman Kaitlyn O’Conner edged Brush sophomore Hailey Flowers for 18th to be the coverage area’s next-highest finisher.
Originally Published: September 14, 2024 at 4:51 p.m.