by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

The Stow-Munroe Falls cross country teams hosted a loaded field Oct. 4 at the Stow Invitational at Silver Springs Park.

The Bulldogs proved their mettle by finishing right in the middle of both team races.

Stow's girls team finished third in a very tight race for the girls team title. Hudson won the title with 66 points, while Brecksville-Broadview Heights was second (81 points), Stow was third (83) and Woodridge was fourth (84).

Meanwhile, the Bulldog boys finished fifth in the 17-team boys race with 100 points. Woodridge won with 53 points, followed by Walsh Jesuit (71), Hudson (89) and Avon Lake (92).

Overall, Bulldogs coach John Roseman was pleased with the efforts of his team.

"I feel pretty good about it," Roseman said. "The girls race was fun to watch."

The girls race was entertaining for Roseman before the Koch and Betts Show took center stage.

Senior Abby Koch and sophomore Katie Betts ran shoulder-to-shoulder through the first mile of the race, keeping contact with Woodridge's Erin Mercer and Hudson's Angela Williams.

Koch made her move along with Mercer in the second mile and those two traded the lead with each other the rest of the race. In the end, Mercer beat Koch to the line, winning in 18:28.8. However, Koch's runner-up time of 18:31.3 just missed her personal best, which she set last year at the state meet.

Koch said she enjoyed going stride for stride with Mercer.

"She put up a really good fight," Koch said. "If you see a gap where you can surge in the second mile, you need to take it."

Betts also broke the 19-minute mark, taking third in 18:51.3.

Roseman was please with both of his top two.

"Abby's back; that was a really good race for her," Roseman said. "This is not quite as fast as Katie was last week, but she's still doing what you'd like to see her do."

Junior Jessica DuHamel was Stow's next best finisher, taking 16th place in 20:11.6.

Junior Jessica Hall (30th, 20:51.7) and sophomore Hillary Feskanin (32nd, 20:52.6) rounded out Stow's scoring runs, with junior Jessica Zivny (35th, 20:59) close behind. Senior Tessa Wilson also ran in the varsity race in 53rd place in 21:36.1.

Despite putting their top five runners in the top 32, Stow narrowly lost the runner-up slot to defending Division I state champion Brecksville. The Bees' fifth runner, freshman Lauren Greenlee, crossed the line in 27th place in 20:44, just seven seconds ahead of Hall.

Boys finish strong fifth

With the defending Division II state champion and state runner-up in the field Oct. 10, Roseman knew his team faced an uphill battle to bring home a trophy.

However, Roseman was all smiles over his team's performance, as the Bulldogs' top five runners all finished in the top 30.

Running for the last time on the Silver Springs course, senior Phil Ruolo was the Bulldogs' top finisher. Ruolo took 12th place in a time of 17:00.9.

Juniors Nick Brenner and Justin Pesich were hot on their teammates' heels, as the pair finished 16th (17:12) and 17th (17:13.9), respectively.

"Phil and Nick work together that way always," Roseman said. "It's good to see them leading our pack."

Stow's final two scoring runs also came in neck-and-neck as sophomore Greg Oneacre came in 27th (17:29.9) and freshman Nick Hall finished 28th (17:31.7).

Junior Gabe Crow (66th, 18:26) and sophomore Justin Thomas (84th, 19:01.3) also competed in the varsity race.

Up next for Stow is the Northeast Ohio Conference River Division Meet which will take pace Oct. 11 at the Cuyahoga Community College-West Campus in Parma.

E-mail: mleonard@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113