ASHLAND — The heat and humidity didn’t seem to bother Shelby teammates Kayla Gonzales and Huck Finnegan.
Gonzales placed second in the Division I girls race, while Finnegan was seventh in the Division I boys race at the Ashland Cross Country Invitational at Freer Field on a steamy Saturday morning.
The Division I races went off under cloudless skies with a heat index in the upper-80s — not unusual for early-September in north central Ohio, but not especially comfortable for the hundreds of runners who took part in the annual event.
Division II Shelby competed in the big-school division to face stiffer competition.
Gonzales and Stow junior Jayla Atkinson, who placed 30th at the Division I state meet last November, were stride-for-stride for the first two miles before Atkinson pulled away to win in 18 minutes, 52.7 seconds. Gonzales crossed in 19:04.7, followed by Cloverleaf’s Alyssa Stoner (19:09.9).
“The first two miles were really strong,” Gonzales said. “We kind of slowed down going into the third mile. She got me in the woods. The hills came and I was kind of running out of energy.
“The humidity I could feel. I thing it was a combination of stuff. It was a hard training week.”
Brecksville and Stow both finished with team scores of 106. Brecksville won based on the placement of the sixth runner.
“I was kind of going into it not really sure how it would because Division I is much more competitive,” Gonzales said. “Overall I’m happy with it. You always want to do better than you did, but at the end of the day I’m proud of it.
“It’s really nice having (competition). It’s like the next level and it gets you ready for the postseason.”
The Shelby girls finished eight in the 21-team Division I field with a team score of 215. Host Ashland finished 16th with a team score of 443, while Madison (539) was 19th. Isla McFrederick was the top finisher for the Arrows, placing 65th in 23:03.6. Callie Cyrus (23:00) finished 63rd overall to lead the Rams.
In the Division I boys race, Finnegan led the Whippets to a seventh-place finish in the teams standings with a time of 16:31.4.
“It’s definitely a hot and humid day,” Finnegan said. “I was hoping for a PR … but I didn’t quite get there today.
“We didn’t think this was going to be this hot, but it is what it is.”
Copley’s Dylan Wood won the race in 15:55.6. Massillon Perry’s Connor Reed (16:03.7) was second and Firestone’s Nate Julien (16:15) was third.
Medina Highland won the team event with a score of 85. Twinsburg (152) was a distant second and Lexington (169) was third. Ashland (186) was fifth.
The Arrows were led by Lukah Will (17:21.1), who finished 17th overall. Joey Aquino (17:23.4) led the way for the Minutemen.
