'It feels really good to be able to celebrate': Roosevelt, Julia Wheeler take titles

Here are seven things I took away from the inaugural Streetsboro Rockets Invitational:

1. Two trophies for Roosevelt

The drive from Streetsboro’s City Park to Kent’s Theodore Roosevelt High School is a pleasant one, particularly with two trophies in tow.

Those trophies, Rough Riders coach Matt Pazderak noted, have not come as frequently since Roosevelt’s move many years ago from the Portage Trail Conference to the Suburban League.

All of which made Saturday morning's boys and girls team titles more special.

"It means a lot to get a core group of kids that are committed to themselves and to their team and they work really hard," Pazderak said. "I feel pretty lucky, really, that I've got kids who they know what they need to do and they do it and they're just so motivated."

Roosevelt's boys edged runner-up Streetsboro 52-62, led by Cor Asp's individual runner-up finish (17:30.24) while Carter Stevenson, Carter Slack and Diego Coutino Granados all joined him in posting sub-19 times. Asp finished behind only Norton's Ryan Ehrler (16:43.61).

"This team, I love them so much," Asp said. "They're all my buddies and my friends, my family, and it feels really good to be able to celebrate and win with them for the first time in a long time."

2. Teamwork pays off for the Rough Riders

Cross country has always ridden a fine line between being an individual and a team sport. For the Rough Riders, their team trophies certainly came courtesy of a team effort, particularly on the girls side.

The Roosevelt girls edged runner-up Southeast 50-57 despite the Pirates having the individual champion (Julia Wheeler) and the Rough Riders not having anyone in the top three.

Roosevelt won by putting all five scorers in the top 18, as freshmen Caroline Stahle West (4th, 22:11.33) and Marlena MacPherson (7th, 22:45.86) seamlessly mixed with veteran standouts Jeanie Barzellato (6th, 22:30.73) and Emma Arthur (15th, 23:18.42).

"Those are the things that we want them to take out of something like this," Pazderak said. "They're happy with their individual performances, but understanding what all of that does for them as a team is big."

3. Julia Wheeler delivers a championship for Southeast

A week ago, Julia Wheeler battled through a side stitch en route to a 21:08.1 at Marlington. On Saturday, the Southeast sophomore was feeling a lot better while capturing the girls individual title.

“I felt good running it," Wheeler said. "Like, I knew I had to get out faster this time if I wanted to run a better time and if I wanted to get to where I wanted to be during the season."

Beyond securing a gold medal Saturday, Wheeler (20:14.72) ran nearly a full minute faster than the previous week.

"Julia definitely ran smoother today," Pirates coach Julia Dillon said. "Last week, she was hurting a little bit, so we worked on some different things this week. She's been really working on this certain workout plan all summer. She's been really focused on how many miles she's putting in, the speed work she's putting in. She's really great about hydrating and eating correctly, and I think we're starting to see the effects of all of that starting to happen for her."

4. Southeast boasts depth beyond Julia Wheeler

As pleased as Wheeler was with her race, she really got excited when asked about her team’s runner-up performance. Southeast’s finish, just seven points behind champion Roosevelt, was particularly impressive given one of its top returners, Kristen Campbell, is out with a torn ACL, and one of its top freshman, Jenna Canale, is out with a back injury.

So how did the Pirates do it?

Well, Wheeler (1st, 20:14.72) and Julia Frick (10th, 22:54.45) were standouts, per usual. And their teammates stepped up big-time, including Maddie Lane (12th, 23:09.08), Penelopei Sutliff (13th, 23:16.99) and Destiny Longgood (21th, 24:07.27).

"I'm very, very happy with our performance today," Wheeler said. "I'm really proud of how we all did."

5. With just five girls, Crestwood finishes third

As excited as the Pirates were to finish as the invitational runner-up, the Red Devils girls were plenty pleased with third, particularly given they brought just five runners to Streetsboro.

"You always want to run fast," Crestwood coach Jim Schweickert said. "Distance runners are obsessed with their times, and we knew with a flat course like this we could run fast and they all ran season bests."

With Abby Guyette (volleyball) and Erin Hallis (soccer) caught up in other sports, freshmen Piper Seibold (2nd, 20:34.97) and Madie Grace Gonczy (3rd, 21:00.85) led the Red Devils. The freshman duo ran with Wheeler early and hung together for much of the race, even exchanging a laugh or two as they ran side-by-side through the City Park course.

"They didn't try to beat her early," Schweickert said. "They kind of fed off of her and chased her the whole time, which pulled them along."

6. Streetsboro a happy host

Saturday was exactly what Rockets coach Jon Hannan has long wanted, a chance for a bunch of local teams to get together for a competitive invitational without having to take a long drive.

Compete they did, with the girls team race decided by just seven points and the boys by 10.

"I looked at starting an invitational because I wanted to get some local teams out here and have something that we don't have to travel an hour to go to and just some of the smaller schools in the area and make it more competitive and whatnot," Hannan said. "I've been in the program for 10 years and [it's] something that I've wanted to bring here."

Hannan was also pleased with the runner-up finish by his boys team, led by Tim Harkleroad's fourth-place time of 17:41.12. Marcus Peters followed with a 18:37.36, while Chris Daniels, Ares Miller and Braden Hodge all finished within roughly 13 seconds of each other.

"Tim's been working real hard. He stepped up as our top leader this year as we lost Zach Vales last year," Hannan said. "I thought it was a really solid finish [for our team] and our sixth runner, Ares Miller, stepped up and scored for us well today."

7. Ravenna, Waterloo post strong times

The Ravens were able to field a full team on the girls side, which they were excited about, and got a top-10 finish from Julia Stratton, who was ninth in 22:54.11.

The Vikings' Jeremiah Willis impressed with a 20:07.96.

Full results

Boys

Roosevelt (1st, 52): 2. Cor Asp, 17:30.24; 8. Carter Stevenson, 18:25.81; 10. Carter Slack, 18:30.44; 13. Diego Coutino Granados, 18:48.77; 19. Ethan Young, 19:29.29

Streetsboro (2nd, 62): 4. Timothy Harkleroad, 17:41.12; 11. Marcus Peters, 18:37.36; 14. Chris Daniels, 19:02.29; 16. Ares Miller, 19:12.72; 17. Braden Hodge, 19:15.25

Crestwood (3rd, 70): 6. Kevin Vechery, 18:07.44; 7. Augie Schweickert, 18:17.71; 15. Hans Seibold, 19:06.84; 20. Garret Byers, 19:29.75; 22. Austin Wurm, 19:36.28

Southeast (5th, 129): 5. Carter Evans, 17:49.84; 21. Matt Fields, 19:34.39; 30. Hunter Nutter, 20:54.10; 31. Brice Schoenbaechler, 20:55.78; 42. Logan Bruderly, 26:41.41

Ravenna (did not field a full team): Dakota Bishop, 22:28.77; Ruben Simmons, 22:53.21

Waterloo (did not field a full team): Jeremiah Willis, 20:07.96

Girls

Roosevelt (1st, 50): 4. Caroline Stahle West, 22:11.33; 6. Jeanie Barzellato 22:30.73; 7. Marlena MacPherson, 22:45.86; 15. Emma Arthur, 23:18.42; 18. Madeline Baron, 23:45.80

Southeast (2nd, 57): 1. Julia Wheeler, 20:14.72; 10. Julia Frick, 22:54.45; 12. Maddie Lane, 23:09.08; 13. Penelopei Sutliff, 23:16.99; 21. Destiny Longgood, 24:07.27

Crestwood (3rd, 76): 2. Piper Seibold, 20:34.97; 3. Madie Grace Gonczy, 21:00.85; 8. Kennedy Rhodes, 22:51.66; 27. Piper Freedline, 24:45.88; 36. Kyleigh Becks, 26:49.81

Streetsboro (5th, 102): 16. Sonia Downing, 23:19.45; 17. Madi Campbell, 23:31.05; 22. Briana Hushion, 24:13.94; 23. Grace Thomson, 24:14.15; 24. Kaelyn Malloy, 24:18.82

Ravenna (7th, 161): 9. Julia Stratton, 22:54.11; 26. Addison Ribelin, 24:26.83; 41. Clare Johnston, 31:53.66; 42. Hannah Jones, 37:34.04; 43. Kaitlynn Artz, 41:00.22

Waterloo (did not field a full team): Cheyenne Biltz, 27:02.84; Ally Miller, 27:44.87; Tess Rodenbucher, 27:50.65; Helyn Willis, 37:48.30

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Roosevelt, Wheeler snag Streetsboro Invitational cross country titles