'The streak is amazing': Firestone cross country teams continue to win City Series titles

Firestone High School continued its dominant run against its City Series cross country rivals Wednesday in the annual league championship meet at Goodyear Heights Metro Park.

Sophomores Eli Dunlap and Sarah Schueler conquered Goodyear and its steep hill to cross the finish line first in the boys and girls races, respectively, to guide the Falcons.

Dunlap completed the 3.1-mile course in a time of 17:12 and Schueler posted a time of 21:25. The times were Dunlap's and Schueler's individual best performances at Goodyear.

Firestone wins 21st Akron City Series boys cross country title in a row

Senior David Burkholder finished second Wednesday in 17:32 for the Firestone boys, which scored 15 points, and won their 21st City Series title in a row and 22nd in 23 seasons.

"Twenty-one years in a row is crazy to me," Dunlap said. "That is longer than I have been alive. I was born when the streak had already begun and it feels really awesome to carry it on. Winning has always been a dream of mine. Coming through the finish line first was really awesome.

"As a team, I love these guys. They are my family. It has been a pleasure racing with them for the past two years. I am sad that some are leaving due to graduation. This is a great group of guys. We race strong, put our minds over everything and work hard."

Dunlap's career best time is 16:32 that placed him third at this season's Gilmour Academy Paul Primeau Invitational.

Firestone had the top seven finishers in the boys race: Dunlap, Burkholder, senior Rylan Garden, senior Nicholas Cribbet, senior Braylon Peets, freshman Jack Ledley and freshman Sebastian Bee.

"This is exciting," Firestone coach David Herr said. "The streak at this point, it feels like it is definitely an expectation every year, but at the same time we had four seniors in our top seven last year that graduated so a lot of guys stepped up this year. We have two freshmen in our top seven and a 10th-grader winning the City Series championship. That is exciting."

Herr graduated from Firestone in 2017 and ran on three City Series title teams.

Garfield senior Norr Keanu, Buchtel senior Qi'Marreon Marks and Ellet sophomore Jramayne Williams rounded out the top 10 in the boys race.

Firestone wins 10th Akron City Series girls cross country title in a row

Junior Reese Brady finished second in 21:48 for the Firestone girls. The Falcons finished with 23 points and won their 10th league title in a row and 12th in 14 seasons.

"This is all hard work," Schueler said. "The entire season leads up to something like this and this is really cool to come out here and win. ... I think that the streak is amazing and it is something that is so cool that we can continue."

The Firestone girls team had seven runners in the top 16: Schueler, Brady, freshman Kathryn Miller (third), junior Soraya Ledley (sixth), freshman Fallon Highfield (14th), freshman Abby Young (15th) and junior Elies Cervera (16th).

"I placed second last year," Schueler said. "I ran with my friend Soraya and she won last year. I think that really helped me get a sense of what it is like to place high up in a meet. That really helped with competitiveness."

Schueler's career best time is 20:05 at this season's Medina Milt Place Cross Country Festival.

"We are really excited because we are returning all of our top seven on the girls side," said Herr, who coaches the girls team with Sara Schaefer.

"Our No. 1 is a sophomore. Sarah Schueler has really leveled up this year. A lot of runners have shown great improvement."

The other girls in the top 10 were Ellet junior Layla Lemin (fourth), North sophomore Marely Morales (fifth), Buchtel senior Sandra King (seventh), Buchtel junior Akaliya White (eighth), Garfield junior Kanijah Kimbrough (ninth) and Buchtel freshman Jada Davis (10th).

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Firestone High School cross country teams win Akron City Series titles