Cross Country Results
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM PLACES THIRD NATIONALLY IN TEAM GPA
The Cuyahoga women's cross country team placed third in the country with a team GPA of 3.81 according to NJCAA Cross Country Coaches Association statistics. Six members of the team earned Academic All-America recognition. Earning All-America status were Claudia Mendek and Juliet Rayer of North Royalton, Smantha Agresta and Dana Miller of Berea-Midpark, Kristen van't Veer of Ashtabula and Sarah Shahan of Middlefield). This marks the third time in the last four years that the team has finished with a GPA in the top 5 nationally and the 5th year in a row the team has achieved Academic Team of the Year honors.
Cuyahoga Women Finish 13th at Division I NJCAA National Cross Country Championship
The Cuyahoga women's cross country team placed an explanation point on a terrific cross country season with a 13th place finish at the NJCAA National Final hosted by the city of Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico. The team also posted several highlight finishes in 2019 by winning the Buffalo State Invitational, finishing 6th at the Disney Cross Country Classic and winning the Region XII NJCAA Cross Country Championship. Freshman Claudia Mendak (North Royalton) for the women in Albuquerque with a time of 20:33. Close behind was sophomore Hannah Heath (Black River) in 20:47 and Hailey Vitolo (Perry) in 20:47. Juliet Rayer of North Royalton provided a boost finishing in 21:13 and Samantha Gresta (Berea) finishing in 21:36. Providing valuable displacing points was Hope Brown (Berea) and Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula). The team is already looking forward to 2020 with seven current freshman returning to the squad.
Cuyahoga Women Race to NJCAA Region XII Title
Cuyahoga entered the race as one of four Region XII cross country teams ranked in the top 25 national poll. Sitting behind number 11 ranked Lansing and just in front of number 18th ranked Muskegon. The 17th ranked Cuyahoga women utilizing a total team effort was able to capture the team title scoring 35 points to runner up Lansing (53 points) and Muskegon finishing third with 68 points. Five Cuyahoga women earned All Region XII honors with Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) finishing 4th in 19:40, followed closely behind by 6th place finisher Hannah Heath (Black River) in 19:53, 7th place finisher Hailey Vitolo (Perry) 19:55, 8th place Hope Brown (Midpark) in 19:56 and rounding out the Region XII team was Juliet Rayer (North Royalton) finishing in 10th position in 20:19. Also scoring for the women was Samantha Agresta finishing 22nd in 21:05 and finishing 30th was Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula)in 21:48. All seven women ran their personal best times of the year.
The team travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the November 9th running of the NJCAA Cross Country National Finals hosted by the University of New Mexico and city of Albuquerque.
Women's Cross Country Team Runs to 6th Place Finish at Disney Cross Country Classic
The Cuyahoga women's cross country team tied their highest place finish at the Disney Cross Country Classic in held in Orlando, Florida. The team finished 6th with a team average time of below 21:00. Leading the charge with a personal best time of 20:00 flat was Hope Brown (Midpark). Just behind Hope was Hannah Heath (Black River) in 20:36 and Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) in 20:37. Also scoring for Cuyahoga was Hailey Vitolo (Perry) in 21:19 and Samantha Agresta (Berea-Midpark) in 21:21. Samantha was followed by high school teammate Dana Miller in 22:04 and Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula) in 22:13. The team lead a trio of community college teams finishing just ahead of Pasco Hernando Community College and Daytona State College.
This was the final tune up before the team travels to Lansing, Michigan to compete at the NJCAA Regiona XII Championship on October 26th.
Women's Cross Country Team Scores 5th at Mercyhurst/Gannon Invitational
The Cuyahoga women dropped their team average time to 21:04 as they raced to a 5th place finish at the Mercyhurst Gannon Run In The Park. The women were paced on the rolling, hilly course by Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) who finished in 20:37. Claudia was followed closely by teammates Hailey Vitolo (Perry) in 20:46 and Hope Brown (Berea-Midpark) in 20:49. Hannah Heath (Black River) completed the 5K course in 21:31 with Juliet Rayer (North Royalton) finishing in 21:36. Samantha Agresta (Berea-Midpark) folllowed Juliet with a time of 22:30, with Kristen van't Veer (Lakeside) turning in a 22:42, Dana Miller (Berea-Midpark) 22:57, Katelyn Williams (Massillon Perry) 23:30 and Sarah Shahan (Cardinal) 24:40.
The team travels next week to Orlando to compete in the Disney Cross Country Classic.
Cuyahoga Competes at All-Ohio Championship
The 66th edition of the All-Ohio Collegiate Championship was hosted by Cedarville University and included all colleges across Ohio. The Cuyahoga women placed 26th in a field of over 40 Ohio collegiate teams. This race will long be remembered due to the 90 degree temperatures which had a large impact on the individual runners. Pacing the women's cross country team as she has all season was Hope Brown (Berea-Midpark) who covered the 6k course in 25:08. Hope was followed by Hannah Heath (Black River) and Claludia Mendek (North Royalton) who both recorded a time of 26:02. I tight pack of three Cuyahoga runners followed as Sam Agresta (Berea-Midpark) checked in at 27:02, followed by Hailey Vitolo (Perry) in 2:07 and Julliet Rayer (North Royalton) in 27:11. Rounding out the scoring was Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula) in 28:45.
The team travels to Erie, Pa. next Saturday for competition at the Mercyhurst/Gannon University Invitational.
Sophomores Lead Strong Team Performance at Penn State-Behrend
The women's cross country team placed 3rd out of 13 teams at the Penn State-Behrend Campus Cross Country invitational. Leading the way were sophomores Hope Brown (Berea-Midpark) who finished the 6K course in 24:48 to capture 8th place. Folllowing close behind in 25:13 was sophomore Hannah Heath (Black River) who finished 11th. Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) took 17th in 25:53 while Samantha Agresta's (Berea-Midpark) 26:07 earned a 20th place finish. Juliet Rayer (North Royalton) cracked the top 25 by registering a 26:20, good for 23rd place. Rounding out the scoring for the Cuyahoga women were Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula) 27:18, Dana Miller (Berea-Midpark) 27:19, and Hailey Vitolo (Perry) in 27:33.
Next up, the women travel to Cedarville University on September 28th for the All-Ohio Collegiate Championship, featuring all Ohio colleges and universities.
Women's Cross Country Team Places 8th at University of Akron
The women's cross country team placed 8th in a predominately Division I field at the University of Akron's Tommy Evans Invitational. The team showed improvement by lowering their team average time by 8 seconds per runner over their opening effort at Buffalo State. Leading the way once again was Hope Brown (Berea-Midpark) in 20:35. Finishing 2nd for the women was Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) in 20:51. Black River's Hannah Heath finished 3rd in 21:21, followed by Hailey Vitolo (Perry) 21:31, Samantha Agresta 22:23 and Dana Miller 22:38, both from Berea-Midpark. Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula Lakeside) and Katelyn Williams (Massillon Perry) completed the team's strong finish.
The team travels to Penn State-Berhend campus (Erie, Pa.) next Friday to compete against friendly rivals from Pennsylvania.
Cuyahoga Women's Cross Country Team Wins Team Championship at Buffalo State College
The 2019 women's cross country team got off to a fast start in their opening meet as they ran their way to a first place finish, outpacing Buffalo State College for the team title. The women's team totaled 25 points to Buffalo's runner up total of 44. Pacing the Cuyahoga women was sophomore Hope Brown (Berea-Midpark) who claimed the individual championship title running a 20:43 over the rolling course. Following Hope to the finish was 3rd place finisher Claudia Mendek (North Royalton) in 20:56, 5th place finisher Hannah Heath (Black River) in 21:10, 7th place went to Hailey Vitoloa (Perry) in 21:29, 9th place to Juliet Rayer (North Royalton) in 22:42. Rounding out the scoring was 10th place finisher Kristen van't Veer (Ashtabula Lakeside) in 22:53 and 13th finisher Samantha Agresta (Berea-Midpark) in 23:15. Two seconds back in 14th was teammate Dana Miller followed by 15th place finisher Katelyn Williams (Massillon Perry). Sarah Shahan (Middlefield Cardinal) also cracked the top 25 by finishing 22nd.
The team travels to Silver Creek Park and the University of Akron next weekend to compete in the Tommy Evans/U. of Akron Invitational.