High school cross country: Trio of area runners finish in top 10 at the state meet

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OBETZ — It was the final time that Mentor senior Savannah Dennison was going to don the red M in her cross country career. So she made sure that she went out with a bang.

Dennison battled back from a slower-than-desired start in the Division I state meet to be in the top 10 by the second mile. From there it was smooth sailing for her as she crossed the line in seventh for the second year in a row with a time of 18:24.5.

A big challenge for the girls in the final race of the meet was the ever-changing weather. While the event started as a sunny and warm meet, it quickly transitioned into a windy and overcast day with runners going into the wind for half of the race.

“I was top 10 back-to-back years so you can’t be mad about that,” Savannah said. “No other girls runner for Mentor has come close to that in school history, while I wish I was a little higher up, it was conditions that I had never raced in before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen winds like this and that was a challenge. My two-mile and mile were close to what I was expecting, but a lot of us ran out of gas towards the end just having to battle the wind like we did. I’m happy to be able to get the result that I did today.”

While the wind was also a factor for the boys D-I race, that was the least of Billy Dennison’s concerns. Rather, the Mentor sophomore was more concerned with being able to find places to pick up positions and not get boxed in at the start.

The first half of that plan didn’t go accordingly, as he found himself in 34th at the two-mile mark. He battled back and knowing he was in a pack played right into his hands.

Billy finished 23rd to earn All-Ohio honors with a time of 16:00.0. Working his way through packs is nothing new for Billy as that is something he has thrived doing the entire season.

“I was getting call-outs all race of where I was and where I needed to be,” Billy said. “I knew I was right there and in a big pack of runners. There were the four that broke away but there was a pack of about 30 runners. It was so easy because I would get some spots and then there would be another pack right there. Going up the hill, a lot of people took their time where I flew down it and got six spots. That was the start of my kick against a lot of runners I’ve seen all year.”

But as those duos and other runners started to fade in the final 1.1 miles, that was where Gresh found her stride. In that span of the course, Gresh made up 10 spots to finish ninth and earn a spot on the podium.

After a pair of top fives in the first two meets in the postseason, Gresh knew she had momentum on her side and was capable of not just replicating her run from a season ago, but able to take it a step further like she did with her 19:02.6.

“This season my coach has really stressed the point of one more,” Gresh said. “At the start of the last leg I saw that there were a lot of spots that I could get and knew that I needed to go get them. It’s great to have strong runners to go against every meet of the postseason. It allowed me to gauge where we were and where I needed to be and where I needed to pass.”

For the D-II boys, West Geauga’s Daniel Kearns broke early and was the leader at the first mile and in a pack of four at the front during the second loop. While he tapered off of the lead pack in the meet, he held on for a sixth-place finish to earn a spot on the podium.

His experience at last season’s state meet, the first that the West Geauga team advanced to in school history, played into his plans for the meet, as he posted a time of 15:57.8.

In his final meet for the Wolverines, the senior knew that he got out faster than he wanted, but was able to shift his mentality to defending his spot to make sure that he got the All-Ohio finish that he wanted.

“Last year I found out really quickly that this race starts fast,” Kearns said. “You have the chance to get really boxed in and spend a ton of time trying to bob and weave through everyone. This year I wanted to get ahead of that and go get a high spot. You see other people going faster than you but with your legs getting heavier, you have to be able to manage your finish.”

He wasn’t the only West Geauga runner who took home All-Ohio honors, as junior Matthew Dienes also worked his way up to a 26th place finish.

The big mover of the meet was NDCL junior Anthony Ciecierski, as he moved up 25 positions from the first mile to the finish to place 11th and earn All-Ohio honors for the Lions. His biggest move came in the final 1.1 miles as he went from 23rd to 11th, getting two spots in the final stretch.

Unlike Kearns, Ciecierski wasn’t able to fall back on experience from a season ago but he was able to call back to experience from earlier in the season. NDCL started their season at Fortress Obetz and that played right into the juniors hands in the final sprint.

“I knew it was going to be a tough start but I needed to stay calm and focus,” Ciecierski said. “Once I started to pass people, I got a lot of confidence and was able to keep it going. To have that advantage from the OHSAA Early meet, I knew the one hill was going to be a spot to watch. I needed to push up the hill where people started to fall off.”

In the second race of the day, the girls D-III meet, Wickliffe’s Markalla Tumbry placed 59th with a 20:21.1. Lake Catholic also saw Kelly Ward cross in 80th with a 20:47.7.