Kirtland shows well at regional preview

Kirtland’s cross country teams on Saturday previewed the regional meet track during the 2017 Spartan Invitational at Boardman High School in Youngstown.

The Hornets showed well with the girls’ team finishing 14th out of 45 teams and the boys came in 20th place out of 41 squads.

“For the women, 14th place out of over 40 is good for us,” said Kirtland coach JP Moran. “We saw some district teams and we are on the outside looking in for regionals, but we’re close as of now. The boys were consistent with our top three pack running well. The girls’ top five spread is closing down and moving up, so that’s a good thing.”

Sophomore Lauren Snyder medaled at the meet with a time of 22:10, good for 44th place overall.

“Reflecting on the race this weekend, the course was challenging and my time wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be,” Snyder said. “But, this will propel me to do better next race.”

Senior Sydney Snyder finished 50th with a time of 22:14.

“Everyone knows Boardman isn’t an easy course, and the weather was a little humid,” she said. “I am a bit disappointed with my time, I thought I could have performed better, but I will use it as motivation for next week.”

The next three Kirtland finishers all were freshmen.

Julie Namciu was 58th with a time of 22:35 and Aimee Baldrey and Mateja Mrva finished with times of 24:21 and 24:33, respectively.

Junior Emily Crebs was right behind Mrva in 24:34 and senior Holly Samf came in at 25:13.

Junior Konnor Duncan led the boys with a time of 18:35, good for 61st place.

“I was a little disappointed with my time because I wanted to be a little closer to 18 flat,” Duncan said. “That was after two weeks of no racing, so I have high expectations for myself for the next coming meets.”

Senior Colton Zanko (18:40), junior Jake Grdadolnik (18:49), sophomore George Shuppe (20:53), freshman Ian McGreal (21:16), sophomore Andrew Schneider (21:53) and junior Kirk Brauer (23:50) also competed for the Hornets.