Wildcats finish second to St. Xavier at Tiffin.
Saint Ignatius' veteran cross country coach Dr. Mike Gallagher gives us a close up look at how the Wildcats ran.
The remnants of Hurricane Isaac hit the Walsh course with a vengeance leaving the course slow, wet and muddy. Disregarding the conditions, the freshmen squad took first place by 5 points over Austintown Fitch. Scoring for the Wildcats were Jim Rogers 19:17, Alex Falkenberg 19:37, Mark McHugh 20:27, Connor Reilly 20:57 and Matt Galla 21:20. Rounding out the top 7 were Connor Holden 22:19 and Ned Conry 22:37.
The JV squad finished fourth with 88 points. The top finisher was Brennan Leitch 19:31 followed by Sean Sovacool 19:46, Andrew Ohliger 19:50, Frank Quinn 19:58, Michael Kraft 20:06, Sam Rapnicki 20:22 and Brian Drellishak 20:26.
The Wildcats took the team title in the Open race. Tom Laycock finished second overall with a tie of 19:41. He was followed by Jake Radeff 19:46, Dan Reyes 20:06, Cory Dedek 20:19, Bill Huesken 21:30 and Adam Bruening 20:32PR.
Saint Ignatius ran up against some stiff competition at the Tiffin Carnival. In the varsity A race, the Wildcats finished second to St. Xavier out of 36 teams. Jack Miller was our top finisher with a 10th place in 15:58. He was followed by Luke Wagner 16:21, Joe Arquillo 16:25, Tim Trentel 16:38, Vince Bartram 16:40, Elliott Thorkelson 16:44 and Pat Scanlon in 16:51.
The Varsity B squad also took the silver medal, finishing second to St. Xavier. Dylan Lynch was the top finisher, seventh overall in 16:57. He was followed by Jack Fitzgerald 16:59, Jeff Foerg 17:09, Tom Sullivan 17:15, Jake Maier 17:21, Jack Politowicz 17:27 and David Meler in 17:54. Congrats to Jack Politowicz for earning his letter!
The Open race at Tiffin had a record 684 runners participating. The Wildcat team took first place by 9 points over Brunswick. Pat Politowicz was the top Saint Ignatius finisher in 17:46. Close on his heels were Liam Farrington 17:55, Sean Williamson 17:58, Greg Miller 18:08, Matt Paponetti 18:13, Connor Lough 18:15 and Zac Zubic 18:31. Congratulations to Pat, Liam and Sean for earning their varsity letters!
Note: On Saturday, the Wildcats' harriers will be competing in the annual McDonough Invitational at Forest Hills Park. The bus leaves Saint Ignatius at 9:00 a.m. The JV race is slated for 10:40, the Open at 11:50 and the Varsity at 1 p.m.
*The corner will get its first game look at the junior varsity football team on Monday evening as the JV 'Cats travel to Mentor for a kickoff scheduled for 5 bells. On Wednesday night, we will be at the varsity and JV soccer matches with the Cleveland Heights Tigers on Dennison Field and on Saturday, it's board the bus for the ride to Erie (Pa.) as the area's top-ranked varsity football team takes on Strong Vincent in Veterans Memorial Stadium at 2 p.m. The corner will post a preview on the Wildcats-Colonels matchup on Wednesday morning.
And don't forget that Coach Brian Becker's golf program will be competing for the prestigious Kiely Cup today (Monday) at noon in the storied Canterbury Golf Club. The Wildcats are the defending champions of the Kiely Cup.
Rounding the corner and burning the midnight oil on who will be this old-timer's football Players of the Week for the Mentor game. There are several strong candidates, to say the least. As always, the corner will post the weekly honors as part of Wednesday's preview.