The high school cross country season got underway last week, and if the OHSAA Early Season Invitational is any indication, this is going to be a banner season for area teams.
In something of a major surprise, Amherst’s boys were second among 41 teams in the race held Aug. 19 at Fortress Obetz, the site of the upcoming state meet on Nov. 4. Rocky River’s boys placed third in the same race and Avon was 16th.
“I knew we were going to be successful, but I didn’t realize we were going to be second place,” said Amherst coach Rob Glatz. “I’ve told the boys since Day 1, ‘We’re going to do something special this year.’ But if we’re going to do something we’ve never done before, then we have to do things we’ve never done before, which is what we’ve been doing with our training. We’ve been pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone.”
On the girls side, Avon was third, Westlake was sixth, Rocky River was seventh and Amherst was 14th. Those girls results are not really surprising, as Avon and Rocky River placed 12th and 13th in the state last year while running all underclassmen in the state meet and Westlake has most of its runners back from a squad that placed third in the state. It was Avon’s first appearance in the state meet since 1988.
“As a team, we want to keep packing it up and close the gaps on one another,” said Avon coach Justin Carroll. “In the regular season we just want to be one of the better teams in every meet. In the postseason, we want to win conference again and then either replicate or better how we did last year. Getting to the state meet is really difficult. It took three decades of hard work for this program to get back to the state meet, so I just want to make it back. But I know that it won’t be easy. We’re going to just take it meet by meet.”
Let’s not forget about area returning individuals as well, led by Westlake’s Sarah Peer, the state runner-up last year to Olmsted Falls star Katie Clute in cross country and the state track meet 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. In all, there are three area returners who earned All-Ohio status in last year’s state cross country meet — Peer, Brianna Chaves of Rocky River and Kaitlyn Reese of Avon. There were no returning All-Ohio runners among area boys.
While Avon ran an all-underclass lineup in last year’s state meet, not all of those runners are participating this year. That may weaken the Eagles’ depth, but it also provides an opportunity for other runners.
“On paper, it affects our team,” Carroll said. “But mentality-wise, it reinforces my point that everybody matters, and everybody has a significant role, and we can’t just rely on one or two runners. It’s something that we’ve emphasized over the years, that they should not rely on somebody else. As a team, we want to work together and run for each other and race for each other, but I want everybody on the team individually to have the mentality to step up every single meet, no matter the circumstances.”
Amherst and Avon are led by a pair of front-runners — sophomore Reese and senior Maddie Harrington for the Eagles, and seniors Ty Perez and Luke Bowlsby for the Comets. Reese was All-Ohio last year after placing 20th in the state meet, and Perez and Bowlsby have run in the cross country and track state meets as individuals.
Last year, the Avon girls broke a long negative streak, and Amherst’s boys hope to do the same thing this year.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Glatz said. “I’ve told the boys that we need to be humble and hungry and keep our eyes on our goal, which is qualifying for the state meet. That would be pretty special for me because the last time a team from Amherst qualified for the state meet was 1995, and I was on that team.”
