High school cross country: Kearns, Jasinski take individual titles, lead teams to Middlefield Invitational victories
Sep. 24—A new configuration for the Middlefield Invitational wasn't the concern for West Geauga's Daniel Kearns on Sept. 24. His biggest thought was how to get out from the first starting box to the narrow funnel of an exit from the Cardinal football field.
He broke fast, and once he reached the exit, the senior was gone on the flat and fast course. He took his third straight victory and set a personal record of 15:29.36, which is also 15 seconds faster than the previous fastest time in the area on the season.
"This course is very flat and I knew that going into this meet," Kearns said. "It plays to my advantage since I like to break fast and it prevents me from getting boxed in. The beginning is very tight and it allows for a lot of chances to get boxed in so it gives more to a faster time like today as opposed to the wide open start a year ago."
While it was another victory for Kearns, it was also another strong meet for the team as well. The Wolverines also saw Matt Dienes (second, 15:48.87) and Chris Whiting (fifth, 17:31.69) in the top five with Grant Congon (seventh, 16:54.39) and John Mikes (eighth, 16:54.85) in the top 10.
Five runners in the top 10 propelled them to their fourth team title on the season with a minuscule 23 team points.
The focus has been on pack running for West Geauga and the flat course paid dividends for that part of their attack. Kearns knew that once they overcame a difficult starting spot on the line, they had the opportunity to see everyone go low.
After his new PR, @WestGAthletics Daniel Kearns knew that the flat course and perfect conditions would yield fast times, and was very happy with his time today #NHXC pic.twitter.com/Jex4mdaOvV
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 24, 2022
"It allows us to go faster and group back up a little bit as the field starts to stretch out," Kearns said. "All of us have the goal of being in the top 15 times in school history and we're pushing those records every time we step onto a starting line."
Behind the Wolverines, Riverside finished in second place with 66 points. The Beavers had five runners finish inside the top 15 led by Mikey Arnone in ninth (17:06.96) and Zane Mauter in 10th (17:08.34).
Arnone was able to keep his fellow senior behind him with his long strides as they entered the chute to the finish. He said the youthful Beavers need to work on running as a group but has seen their progress so far this season as a positive.
His long strides kept Mikey Arnone ahead of his teammate and in the top 10 at Cardinal. The @RHS_XC_Boys senior talks about his race #NHXC pic.twitter.com/iQbqnJ6me6
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 24, 2022
"It's nice because it allows me to conserve a lot of energy since I don't have to move my arms as much," Armone said. "My stride is so long as opposed to someone with shorter legs so that allows me to go and put up a time like today. I've really grown from my freshman year, I'm down 1:20 myself but it's a lot of fun to lead a younger team like this one is."
Just outside the top 10 was the Beachwood duo of Vincent Crenshaw (11th, 17:15.14) and Max Kuenzler (14th, 17:29.57)
While the boys race saw Kearns build an insurmountable lead, the girls race saw a trio of runners take control from the outset.
The Riverside duo of Taylor Jasinski and Gabby D'Amico along with Taylor Deets of West Geauga broke away from the pack to vie for the podium positions.
Most of the race saw D'Amico leading with Deets on her heels, but Jasinski was in seventh after the first mile. This was her first race against varsity runners since returning from a foot injury.
By the second mile, Jasinski had made up those positions and was in hot pursuit of the other two. She was within range in the last 800 and made the push to pass them and win her first race of the season with a 19:23.28.
They finished 1-2 so of course they interview together, @girl_riverside Taylor Jasinski and Gabby D'Amico talk about the new layout and leading the meet #NHXC pic.twitter.com/owxqYkijQB
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 24, 2022
"I really like finishing on the track because there's a lot of adrenaline coming into the stadium," Jasinski said. "It was a really fun finish there. Gabby and I have very different racing strategies, she likes to start out fast, where I like to hold back a little bit and catch people. I feel like meets like this help get us going for next week and a lot of momentum."
D'Amico held on to take second with a 19:28.90 and Deets was third with a 19:34.81. The Beavers built on their 1-2 finish with the trio of Megan Sullivan (seventh), Kate Meinke (14th) and Zoe Seabeck (15th) for a total of five runners in the top 15 and the team title with 34 points over Chardon.
The Beavers have high team aspirations this season and D'Amico knows that if they continue to turn in performances like the one they had at Cardinal, they will be hard to beat.
"If we all work together and push each other then we'll be able to pack up more," D'Amico said. "The layout this year really fed to a runner like myself with the start as compared to last year being a lot more open."
The meet also served as Deets' second race of the season as she also recently returned from a foot injury. She was pleased to be able to push herself against runners like the Riverside duo early in her return.
Also with this year's CVC meet scheduled to be at Cardinal as well, she was happy to turn in a performance like the one she had at this meet.
In her second race back from injury, @WestGAthletics Taylor Deets was happy to be able to run up front and compete for a win in the meet #NHXC pic.twitter.com/dAdKQBWjKt
— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) September 24, 2022
"It was definitely intimidating," Deets said. "But since it was just my second race of the season, I didn't really know what I was going to do. Staying with those top two girls was my goal and not letting anyone else pass me. It was challenging going with them all race. Knowing the course is going to be a big advantage for me and our team and I'm happy we were able to get here before CVCs."
Also among the top finishers were Chardon's Briella Hewitt (fifth, 19:46.74) and Cate Dawson (ninth, 20:14.03), Kirtland's Ainsley Brothwick (sixth, 20:07.46), Beachwood's Alexandra Kheyfets (eighth, 20:11.70). Wickliffe's Markalla Tumbry was just outside the top 10 in 11th (20:23.29).
