OBSERVER?Staff Reports
For the second time in five days, the Fredonia Hillbillies were able to hold off the Dunkirk Marauders in CCAA Division 1 boys' high school cross country at Point Gratiot.
The Hillbillies finished with 32 points, followed by Dunkirk 34, Randolph 63 and Silver Creek incomplete.
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Members from Dunkirk,?Fredonia, Silver Creek and Randolph take off from the starting line during Tuesday’s CCAA?Division 1 boys’ high school cross country meet at Point Gratiot.
"It was very competitive all season," Fredonia coach Carol Zirkle said. "We knew going in, to be able to beat them, we needed guys to run their best race of the season. Everyone was going to have to perform well. Jake Brown and Josh Goodhue ran great races."
Brown finished first with a time of 18:00 while Goodhue was 14 seconds behind for second place.
"Jacob has really come on strong the last couple races," Zirkle said. "It's critical for his postseason that he has been able to break out and have some outstanding races."
Dunkirk's Javier Soto (18:19) and Ethan Francis (18:28) finished third and fourth, respectively. Teammates Kevin Morales (18:59) and Raymond Tarnowski (19:03) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Silver Creek's Adam Tanner placed eighth with a time of 19:11 and Fredonia's Steven Formanowicz took ninth place with a time of 19:12.
Also for Fredonia, Mike Meredith (19:21) and Jacob Eckman (19:33) finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
Dunkirk's Billy Bradley placed 17th with a time of 20:43.
For the Black Knights, Jake Mullen placed 13th at 20:02 and Jacob McDaneld took 15th at 20:21.
"It took all seven runners to run good races to beat Dunkirk," Zirkle noted. "If we don't have our guys go first and second, and the other guys finish where they did, we wouldn't have won. Every single runner counted."
In the girls' race, Fredonia won with 19 points while Silver Creek took second with 39 points. Dunkirk and Randolph were incomplete.
Lauren Reyda took first place once again with a time of 19:39 followed by teammate Michaela Tramuta's time of 20:38. Fredonia's Clare Foley took third at 20:48 while Silver Creek's Hannah Seiders placed fourth at 20:59.
Foley's time of 20:48 was nearly 1:30 faster than her time from Friday's race at the Dunkirk Invitational.
Fredonia's Meredith Zebracki placed sixth at 21:38 while Silver Creek's Emma Seiders followed at 21:52. Seiders' teammate Rachel Radack took eighth at 22:03 and Fredonia's Jillian Kowalski took ninth at 22:04.
"They have been running good races lately," Zirkle said of the girls. "The thing that makes Lauren and Michaela outstanding is they consistently perform at a high level. That's important to have leaders consistently perform their best. The next group is so competitive they fight every race."
Also for Fredonia, Maitland Langworthy placed 15th at 22:55.
Dunkirk's top runner was Calan Pogorzelski with a 13th-place finish at 22:42.
Gowanda girls win; Boys take second
ALLEGANY - The Gowanda Lady Panthers had five runners finish in the top 10 to help edge Allegany-Limestone in CCAA Division 1 girls' high school cross country.
Gowanda won with 28 points followed by Allegany-Limestone 31, Olean 69 and Franklinville incomplete.
The Lady Gators' Alyssa Stroud took first place with a time of 21:45. Gowanda's Colleen Steward (22:17) and Hunter Samuelson (22:32) finished in second and third place, respectively. Also for the Lady Panthers, Sarah Grubbs took fifth with a time of 22:55 and Elizabeth Omicioli placed seventh at 24:05. Marcella Torres rounded out the top 10 with a time of 24:24 for Gowanda.
Also for the Lady Panthers, Krystal Haggert finished 13th at 24:54, Taylor Kickbush 18th at 26:14, Cayleigh Pracht 22nd at 27:58 and Kelsey Delpriore 25th at 29:22.
"It really came down to our fourth and fifth runners splitting up the Allegany-Limestone girls," Gowanda coach Peter Palmer said. "Stroud has been a top runner all year. Colleen and Hunter, they both run very well and improved over last year. It's really come down to being a solid team."
In the boys' race, Olean won with 21 points, followed by Gowanda 38, Allegany-Limestone 94 and Franklinville 97.
Gowanda's Matt Kruszka finished second at 19:00 - 52 seconds behind first-place runner John Ramus of Olean. Gowanda's Cole Smith (19:29) and John Shaw (19:37) finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Joey Kruszka finished 10th at 19:49. Other top Gowanda runners included Dylan Accordino (13th, 20:06), Kevin Frederickson (14th, 20:16), Ben Myzel (17th, 20:42) and Ian Warrior (19th, 20:56).
"Olean just dominated the race," Palmer said. "We kept telling the guys to move up and split up the race, but the Olean kids held their own. They are tough competition."
