BAZETTA, OH- Boardman’s David D’Altorio raced to a 1st place finish out of 254 competitors in a career-best time of 15:34 to lead Boardman High School to an 8th place finish at The Legends Meet this past Saturday in Trumbull County. Junior Brock Farris placed 4th overall at 15:43 and became the 6th fastest Spartan in BHS Cross Country history.

“This was a great day for us,” said Spartan Head Coach John Phillips.  “18 out of the 20 athletes that ran today earned a new personal best time. We, unfortunately, have a couple of seniors injured, but our young guys stepped up big time today to fill the void. Very proud of the efforts that our underclassmen put forth today against a very talented field.”

Earning career bests were D’Altorio, Farris, senior Jason Sweder at 18:23, junior Ethan Boots at 17:20, junior Antajuan Hightower at 18:41, junior Evan Sweder at 20:23, sophomore Josh Belgin at 19:28,  sophomore Isaiah Doyle at 20:31, sophomore Noah Gonzales at 19:36, sophomore Danny LaCivita at 17:28, sophomore Frank Quinlan at 19:18, freshman Connor Boots at 19:48, freshman Adam Nigro at 18:20, freshman Logan Poulakos at 19:44, freshman Jonah Stevens at 21:45, freshman Quinton Swavel at 21:27, and freshman Dom Theodore at 18:30.

Also earning a new career best was sophomore Drew Kornbau with a time of 19:09, a drop of over 2:30 from his last race. Kornbau’s effort has earned him this week’s‘ Runner of the Week award.

“Drew has battled injury all season and he appears to finally be healthy,” explained Phillips, “he could have easily shut down due to frustration from his injury, but instead he worked hard to get healthy and improve. I am very proud of his efforts and happy his season is ending in a positive manner-he has a bright future in our program.”

Next up for the Spartans will be The AAC Championship held at Boardman High School, the Spartans will race at 9:45am.

The Legends Meet

Trumbull County Fairgrounds

Erie McDowell-121

Massillon Perry-122

Austintown Fitch-136

CVCA-139

Cleveland St. Ignatius-157

South Fayette (PA)-233

Lakewood St. Edward’s-243

BOARDMAN-251

Lakeview-262

Tallmadge-268

Maplewood-276

Pittsburgh North Catholic-285

Madison-311

University School-348

Canfield-366

Solon-415

Shaker Heights-431

Cleveland Heights-438

Howland-467

Pine-Richland-473

Mt. Lebanon-480

Berea-Midpark-581

Warren G. Harding-652

Geneva-749

Niles McKinley-912

*Story contributed by John Phillips

Chagrin Falls, OH-  Boardman Sophomore David D’Altorio raced to a 1st place finish in a time of 16:19 against 288 varsity and junior varsity runners at this year’s Gibas Invitational held at Kenston High School. The Spartans placed 5th overall in the 13-team field.

Scoring for the Spartans were sophomore Brock Farris in 4th place at 16:34, senior Ben Zilavy in 32nd at 17:42, junior Ethan Boots in 42nd at 18:00, and sophomore Danny LaCivita in 76th at 19:09.

 “We really did not perform to the best of our ability as a varsity group today,” said Boardman Head Coach John Phillips, “cross country is a grind and it’s important to learn from races that do not go well and build from it. How we respond at Wooster in two weeks will say a lot about who we are as a team.”

The Spartan JV squad placed 6th overall and were led by senior Jason Sweder at 19:23, freshman Adam Nigro in a time of 19:46, senior Ethan Dunlany in a time of 20:06, sophomore Frank Quinlan in a time of 20:19, and sophomore Josh Belgin at 20:24.

Setting new career bests at Kenston were junior Antajuan Hightower at 19:30, junior Evan Sweder at 21:57, sophomore Josh Belgin at 20:24, sophomore Isaiah Doyle at 23:11, sophomore Noah Gonzales at 21:34, sophomore Frank Quinlan at 20:19, freshman Connor Boots at 21:24, freshman Adam Nigro at 19:46, freshman Logan Poulakos at 22:08, freshman Jonah Stevens at 24:00, freshman Quinton Swavel at 23:43, freshman Dom Theodore at 20:34, and freshman Kevin Tomlin at 25:19.

Earning this week’s ‘Runner of the Week’ award was sophomore Noah Gonzales on dropping 4:19 off his previous career best effort.

“The improvement that Noah has shown over the past several months is a shining example of what putting in the work and giving your best effort will result in, he is one of the most dedicated athletes in our program and I am very proud of the way his sophomore season has started,” said Phillips.

Next up for Boardman is The Wooster Invitational on September 10 at Wooster High School.

*Contributed by John Phillips