| Wadsworth Invitational Sept. 29th, 2001: This was a showdown between three of the best NEO teams this year: Medina, Kent, and Strongsville. And we confirmed what we had suspected. Medina is good. Kent has a solid 5, but no depth, and Strongsville still needs a 4th and 5th runner. In a battle between Kent and Medina, Medina eeked out a one point victory over Kent thanks to a good effort from Beth Ward who beat both Jodi Hensel and Stephanie Wade from Kent and Jama Bernard from Strongsville. The top ten looked like this: 1. 19:42 Ardelean (Strongs) 2. 19:49 Jendre (Medina) 3. 19:53 Sloan (Kent) 4. 19:59 Snell (Medina) 5. 20:08 Dalic (Strongs) 6. 20:11 Ward (Medina) 7. 20:15 Meier (Wadsworth) 8. 20:19 Bernard (Strongs) 9. 20:20 Hensel (Kent) 10. 20:21 Wade (Kent) The only runner not from the big three of Kent, Medina, and Strongsville was CVCA transplant Lizz Meier from Wadsworth. A good race from Meier. There were 3 Kent, 3 Medina, and 3 Strongs in the top 10. When looking at these results, keep in mind the fact that Bernard fell during the race, but even had she beat Ward, this may have brought a tie in the final score and Medina had the tie-breaker. The team breakdown looked like this: Medina Kent Strongsville 1. 19:49 19:53 19:42 2. 19:59 20:20 20:08 3. 20:11 20:21 20:19 4. 20:46 20:33 21:09 5. 20:53 20:35 21:20 (B-team) Spread (1-5): 1:04 - 0:42 - 1:38 6. 21:35 22:57 21:29 (B-team) 7. 22:07 22:58 21:31 Strongsville closed the gap in 4 and 5 and they had the best 6 and 7 by far, there is just too far of a gap between there 3 and 4,5. Look at how close Kent's spread was. Medina beat them because of a stronger 1-2-3. The Strongsville coaches have to be concerned about the gap and they are well aware of what they have to do. Lizzy Shoulders will have to step up to help Strongsville close the gap. Kent is shown as very vulnerable if even one of their top five goes down. And here's a little hypothetical for you all to think about. If Lizz Meier were still at CVCA, do you have to look at them as a favorite over Beaumont?? In the d2 race, Holly Pillitiere (Coventry) rallied to win over Collins (Chagrin Falls). Pillitier ran a stupid race (witness her sub-70 first 400), but still was able to come back in the last 800. If she goes out more rationally, she runs 40 seconds faster. |