Staff Photo/Preston Byers LR: Boardman’s Jonathan Burgos Perez, Jacob Turek and Dylan White during the early stages of the 2024 Mahoning County Cross Country Championships held Wednesday at Austintown Township Park. Adam Nigro and David Daltorio unite.
AUSTINTOWN — Boardman won both the boys and girls titles at the Mahoning County Cross Country Championships for the second year in a row.
The Spartans earned a double team victory at Austintown Township Park, thanks in part to performances from individual race winners David Daltorio and Olivia Brady, who finished in times of 16:49.00 and 20:12.86, respectively. did.
This is the second year in a row that the boys team has won the county championship, but this is the fifth year in a row that the Boardman girls team has topped Mahoning County.
But for first-year head coach Luke Guidoukis, it’s county title number one. Guidoukis, who replaced Rick Cypert, said he is still working hard despite the stress of watching his team race.
“I’m always nervous,” Guidoukis says. “I feel like I’m not prepared enough, but I’ll do my best. … I’m always excited about races and I’m always nervous right before the gun goes off, so I don’t think that will ever go away. .”
However, once the race began, it became clear that the Spartans would take home yet another county title.
In addition to sophomore Brady, who improved his time and position from fourth place a year ago, Boardman also earned three spots in the top five and seven spots in the top 18.
The team as a whole had 28 points, 28 points behind second place Canfield. Austintown Fitch, Poland, and Ursulin finished in the top five of the team points rankings.
Brady said the Spartans benefit from competition and tenacity within the team.
“We’re definitely really lucky that everyone on the team tries as hard as we do, because if one person wants to try and everyone else wants to slack off, it’s hard for the other team to try. “It’s kind of disgusting for me,” Brady said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for my teammates who push me every day.”
Brady, who won her first county championship, finished runner-up Wednesday with a more than 50-second lead over teammate Gabby Benetti.
“That’s what we wanted,” Guidoukis said of Brady’s performance. “I thought she would be a little close to some of the others, but I am happy and proud that she passed.
“I told her the goal was to go up and catch the first gator.”
Daltrio leads the Boardman boys to victory.
As a senior, Daltrio wanted to get to the top. So he did.
The 2022 Mahoning County Champions regained the title after finishing third last year. And he did it with some style.
Several times during the race, Daltorio gestured to the crowd, seemingly asking them to make more noise as more than 100 runners competed.
As he crossed the finish line, Daltorio celebrated by raising his hands above his head and pointing his fingers toward the sky.
“This is my last game as a senior, so I want to not take things too seriously and just have fun,” Daltorio said. “(I) just want to enjoy each moment, and it’s always fun to involve the crowd.”
Daltrio won his second county title, finishing just over three seconds ahead of Fitch’s Justin Saari. As a team, the Spartans, who had six of the top nine players, finished with 27 points. Fitch took second place with 74 points, followed by Jackson Milton, Canfield, Poland and Lowellville in third through sixth place, respectively.
Last year, Daltorio finished behind Canfield’s Blake Baker and teammate Brock Farris, the latter of whom beat Daltorio by 0.02 seconds. Compared to his time at the same event last year, Daltorio ran more than 11 seconds slower on Wednesday.
However, he said this is not indicative of his pace and the senior is trying to stay fresh for upcoming races, especially after the county meet was postponed by a week. .
“I didn’t want to push myself too hard,” Daltorio said. “I knew I had to make a big effort on Saturday, so I just wanted to come out here and be with the team for the first few miles and then do whatever it takes to get the win. Ta.”
The county win is Daltorio’s second in the last three years and the Spartans boys team’s second in the same season.
But the senior and coach have bigger goals in mind.
“We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish,” Boardman boys cross country coach John Phillips said. “We wanted to come out here and get the job done, defending the championship…and we’re looking forward to this weekend’s Legends tournament. This is another tournament to defend the championship we won last year. ”
The Legends Tournament will be held Saturday at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds in Cortland.
Girls Top 10 Mahoning County XC Championship Competitors
1. Olivia Brady – Boardman (20:12.86)
2. Gabby Venetti – Boardman (21:03.30)
3. Tyrisma Mendez – Austintown Fitch (21:14.96)
4. Nora Schwarten – Jackson Milton (21:17.03)
5. Lauryn Swantek – Boardman (21:22.46)
6. Sabrina Baskett – Canfield (21:31.11)
7. Lillian Klimas – Canfield (21:39.50)
8. Brenna Bosley – Austintown Fitch (21:42.35)
9. Abi Mihok – Boardman (21:45.07)
10. Lily Trolio – Austintown Fitch (21:59.35)
Top 10 Men’s Mahoning County XC Championship Competitors
1. David Daltorio – Boardman (16:49.00)
2. Justin Saari – Austintown-Fitch (16:52.09)
3. Lucas Sokol – Jackson Milton (17:03.38)
4. Nate Yon – Lowellville (17:18.89)
5. Jacob Turek – Boardman (17:30.00)
6. Dylan White – Boardman (17:41.17)
7. Dominic Theodore – Boardman (17:45.35)
8. Adam Nigro – Boardman (17:51.05)
9. Chase Moore – Boardman (17:51.59)
10. Jackson Barney – Austintown Fitch (17:52.91)
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