Westlake Cross Country Girls Dominate GLC Preview meet; take 1st place

If anyone knows anything about cross country less points is more. So when your team finishes with less than 25 points, you clearly dominated the race.  The Westlake Girls Running Demons did just that.  They scored 21 points, with their nearest competitor (Rocky River) at 56.  Bay followed with 64 points.

Junior Co-Captain Sarah Peer placed first overall with a finishing time of 17:31.  Not only did she win the race by nearly two minutes, she broke her own personal record along with yet another school record.  Her time of 17:31 currently ranks her #1 in the state of Ohio.Not far behind was Junior Ellie Irwin who ran an exceptional race.  With Sarah far ahead, and no race-cart to follow, Ellie had to take the lead and navigate the newly revamped course, almost missing an important turn.  She recovered quickly and finished 2nd place with a time of 19.24.6

The trio of freshman Julia Richards, Senior Co-Captain Sydney Peer, and Junior Co-Captain Christina Ware packed together the entire race to finish 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.  Julia not only earned a personal record with her time of 9:41, she is also now ranked as one of the top freshman girls in the state.

Sophomores Maggie Hennessey and Ashley Spreen also packed together throughout the race, averaging right around a 7 minute mile. The two finished 25th and 29th respectively, out of nearly 200 runners.

On the JV side, freshmen Addison Navratil and Elianna Eck ran particularly impressive races recognizing this is their first time on such a crowded field.  “With Addison running 22:44 and Elianna running 24:00 at such an early point in the season, I look forward to seeing what they can do come October,” said Coach Dennis Sullivan.

For full results, visit Baumspage: https://www.baumspage.com/cc/ccevent.php?peventid=51&table=C

The girls travel to Lorain County Community College next Saturday, September 3rd for the Avon Lake Early Bird Invitational. Varsity runs at 9:30 am, JV/Open at 10:30 am.

The team will also honor and celebrate seniors Nicole Thomas, Allison Boker, Sydney Peer, and Sarah Colman this Friday at the Westlake Demon Varsity Football game.

By Jane Peer on