MIDDLEFIELD–Led by James Kitagawa, Independence’s boys’ cross country team finished fourth at the 2024 Chagrin Valley Conference Championships on Friday at Cardinal High School.
The Blue Devils finished with 64 points. Fairview won the CVC title with 31 points.
Kitagawa placed fourth overall with a time of 17:13.
“I was pretty satisfied with how I did at the conference meet,” he said. “I was definitely looking for a time in the 16s, but I’m happy with the improvements this year and it’s nice to see the offseason work pay off.”
Mitchell Creel, Nathan Lu, Bryce Kwiatkowski, and William Stray also finished among the top 20.
Help Ohio Varsity Tell More Stories
Ohio Varsity is independently owned and provides local coverage of high school athletes, teams and communities throughout Northeast Ohio.
One-time and monthly donations available through PayPal.
Creel placed eighth in 17:40, Lu was 14th in 18:32, Kwiatkowski finished 18th in 18:54, and Stray placed 20th in 19:12.
Daniel Alrabady (19:38), Jack Ottaviano (20:40), and Aaron Zambito (22:33) also competed for the Blue Devils.
With a strong finish, Kitagawa has generated some momentum heading into the district meet. He’s hoping to ride that momentum to the regional meet and beyond.
“I’m very confident that I’m where I need to be in order to accomplish my goals this postseason,” he said. “At this point in the year, you just have to trust that you’ve prepared enough and trained in the offseason. Now it just comes down to staying healthy and competing your best.”
Independence didn’t score as a team in the girls’ race.
Gianna Carlucci placed 16th in 22:54 and Kayla Hujarski finished 31st in 25:29.
