Schedule

2012 Men's Cross Country Schedule

Roster

2012 Walsh Jesuit Men's Cross Country Team Roster

Head Coach: Pat Ritchie
Assistant Coaches: David Lee '87, Andrew Adam '02, Steve Guba ’98, Tony Dipre ‘06
Athletic Director: Grant Conzaman                    

Athletic Administrative Assistant: Mary Ann Dawson
Hytek Coordinator: Patty Grimm
Assistant Hytek Coordinator: Janet Osborne      

Finish Line Coordinator: Jim Sigmund '99
Head Trainer: Mark Herbele                                 

Field Maintenance Coordinator: Joe Petzker '85
Director of Transportation: Steve Neal                

Booster Club Liaison: Tom Freeman
Team Photographer: Sean Ward                      

Volunteer Coordinator: Teri Brennan, Francine Freeman, Cathie Shepherd
Technology Support: Mark Schweter                    

Concession Stand Coordinator: Ken Krajewski

Season Highlights

Walsh Jesuit's Brian Brennan headlines The Plain Dealer’s 2012 boys cross country high school All-Star team

Tim Warsinskey, The Plain Dealer, December 27, 2012 9:18 p.m.

Walsh Jesuit's Brian Brennan was the fastest area runner at the state cross country meet, placing third in Division I with a time of 15 minutes, 22.63 seconds. - (Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STAR TEAM

Some runners are made for tracks and some for trails. Walsh Jesuit senior Brian Brennan isn't happy unless there's mud on his shins and a hill in his way.

"I'm not a fan of running around in circles the whole time," Brennan said. "I like the longer distances, and I can run forever when we're training [for cross country]. We get to run at a bunch of national parks for practice and take in all the scenery."

The challenging trails of Kendall Hills in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are frequent Walsh stomping grounds, and an appropriate metaphor because Brennan emerged this year out of the woods and into the running spotlight.

A year after placing 40th at the state cross country meet and five months after failing to advance out of the district track meet in the 3,200 meters, Brennan was the fastest area runner at the state cross country meet. He placed third in the Division I race with a time of 15 minutes, 22.63 seconds, and Brennan is The Plain Dealer's Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Running a challenging schedule throughout the fall, Brennan was successful, but didn't light it up. He won one regular season race while he continuously trained hard and ran faster. When the season peaked, so did he.

"Everything revolved around having the best race at the end of the season," said Brennan, an Akron resident and the nephew of former Firestone All-Ohioan Tim Brennan, who got Brian into running.

"I was really excited at state, and I had a smile on my face the whole time. You train all that time for 15 minutes. I definitely think being a senior, I was composed. I knew how I had envisioned it and saw how it was playing out. When it actually happened, it was kind of crazy. I was having fun the whole race."

He was, after all, on a trail to success.

RUNNER OF THE YEAR

BRIAN BRENNAN

Walsh Jesuit

Senior

College: Undecided.

Notable: He was the fastest area runner at the state meet, finishing the 5,000-meter course at National Trail Raceway in 15:22.63, and placing third in Division I. He dropped 16 seconds off his previous personal-best time. He won the North Coast League meet and was the Goodyear district champion. He was fourth at the Boardman regional and won the Galion Invitational and had three third-place finishes.

Warriors finish sixth at state meet

Brennan earns podium, finishes third overall

Capping off another successful season, the men’s cross country team took sixth place at the 2012 Division I boy’s state cross country championship at the National Trail Raceway in Hebron. The Warriors scored 219 points, falling to St. Xavier, who scored 71 points and held true to the No. 1 state ranking they had all year. Mason was the state runner-up, finishing with 123 points.

The Warriors saw one athlete earn a spot on the podium. Senior Brian Brennan ran the best race of his career, finishing third place overall after battling with individual state champion Sam Wharton of Tippecanoe for the first four kilometers of the race. Brennan’s time of 15:17 is the second fastest time at the state meet in school history, behind Josh Ritchie’s effort of 15:16 in 1992.

 The next three Warriors in also ran their best efforts of their high school careers. Senior Jordan Shepherd finished 29^th overall to break 16 minutes for the first, running 15:54. His time is the eighth best in school history at the state meet. Senior Cole Francetic was the next in, placing 74^th overall in a time of 16:24, placing him 14^th on the all-time. Senior Evan Freeman was the fourth in, taking 93^rd in a time of 16:33, tying him for 21^st on the all-time list.

Junior Andy Harwood rounded out the top five, running one of his best effort on the season, placing 132^nd in a time of 17:04. Junior Nick Ondracek finished 137^th in 17:13 and Senior Will Nouse finished 146^th in 17:50.

The team has now finished in the top ten at the state meet 19 times since 1979. In addition, Brennan is the third Warrior in two years to make the podium individually, with 2012 alumni Tony Howkins and Matt Krakora making the podium last season.

Warriors qualify for state meet

Team defends regional title

The Walsh Jesuit men’s cross country team will make its third straight trip to the state meet after winning the regional meet at Boardman High School. The team scored 110 points in the victory, edging out Mentor (114) along with other team qualifiers Twinsburg (130) and Solon (131). This was the second straight regional title for the Warriors, and eighth in school history.

 Leading the way for the Warriors, and running with the leaders for the majority of the race was senior Brian Brennan. He took fourth place in a time of 16:05. Close behind and running a faster time than the previous week despite muddy conditions was senior Jordan Shepherd, placing sixth in 16:15. Senior Cole Francetic was the next man in, taking 23^rd overall (19^th team scoring) in a time of 16:54. Junior Nick Ondracek and senior Evan Freeman worked together for a majority of the race, coming in side by side and placing 46^th and 47^th (40^th and 41^st team scoring), both at 17:11. The team was rounded out by senior Will Nouse, placing 75^th in 17:33 and junior Andy Harwood in 85^th
at 17:41.

Complete results can be found here. http://www.baumspage.com/cc/reg/young/2012/b1.htm

The Warriors will travel to Hebron to compete at the National Trail Raceway. It is the second year the state meet will be hosted at this location. Other regional champions include top ranked St. Xavier, St. Ignatius and Westerville North. The Div. I boys race will be at 12:30 p.m.

Warriors win third straight district title

Brennan captures individual crown

The Warriors made sure there was no doubt about the winner at the district meet at Goodyear Metropolitan Park this past weekend. Placing six runners in the top 19, the Walsh Jesuit men’s cross country team outdistanced its competitors to capture their third straight district title and 21^st title in school history. The Maroon and Gold scored 49 points, with Hudson taking second with 79, Solon third with 80, Twinsburg fourth with 88 and the final two regional qualifying spots going to Kenston (119) and Nordonia (152).

Senior Brian Brennan pulled away from the field in the second half of the race to be crowned district champion at 15:55. The time sets a new school record for the Goodyear Metropolitan Park course, breaking the 16:03 time set by Shannon Ritchie ‘85 in 1982. The team would follow Brennan with a memorable performance themselves. Senior Jordan Shepherd was next in at 16:23, finishing sixth. Senior Cole Francetic made it three in the top 10 with a time of 16:42. Junior Nick Ondracek shot out of the cove and passed several runners down the final stretch to finish fourth on the team in 16:54 in 15^th. Senior Will Nouse was right behind in 17^th at 16:55 and right behind Nouse was senior Evan Freeman, the sixth man in, finishing 19^th at 16:57. Seventh man for the team was junior Andy Harwood, who was 43^rd at 18:00.

The first six Warriors were all under 17 minutes, something that has never been done by a Walsh Jesuit team at Goodyear Metro. The top five runners also combined for the best average in school history at Goodyear, averaging 16:34 which bested the 1984 (16:42) and 2011 (16:56) squads.

 Complete results can be found here. http://www.baumspage.com/cc/dist/ne/akron/2012/b1.htm

The Warriors will be looking to continue their momentum this weekend at the regional meet at Boardman High School. The race goes off at 12:30 p.m. Other notable teams in the race include Boardman, Mentor and Chardon, who the Maroon and Gold beat a few weeks prior at the Stow Bulldog Invitational. The top four teams will qualify to the state meet the following weekend at the National Trail Raceway in Hebron.

Warriors defend title at Stow Bulldog Invitational

Team bests regional competition in elite race

The Walsh Jesuit men’s cross country team won their second invitational in a row, taking on a 10-team field in the Elite Race at the Stow Bulldog Invitational. The Warriors scored 84 points in the win, beating state ranked teams Twinsburg (94), Mentor (101), Chardon (112) and Boardman (114).

Senior Brian Brennan led the way for the Warriors as he has all season, taking third in a time of 16:11. Following him with another top 10 finish was senior Jordan Shepherd, who moved his way up to finish ninth in 16:40. Senior Will Nouse and senior Evan Freeman worked together and finish close, with Nouse taking 18^th in 17:14 and Freeman was 23^rd in 17:18. Stepping up as the fifth man this week was junior Nick Ondracek, who was close behind Freeman with a 31^stplace finish in 17:26.

 In the open race, the Warriors saw a great one-two-three finish. A trio of seniors, David Harvan, Brent Stevenor and Bobby Corrigan led the race from start to finish for the Maroon and Gold. Harvan passed Stevenor late to win the race, as the two went 18:23 and 18:26 respectively. Corrigan then came in at 18:44. Other top 50 finishers in a race with almost 300 runners were senior Alex Rinehart in 21^st at 19:29, senior Ryan Ward in 30^th at 19:42,senior Joe Gladstone in 31^st at 19:43 and sophomore Vince Casamento in 46^th at 19:56.

The junior varsity team found themselves in a tough field, finishing fifth with 144 points, behind winner GlenOak with 38 points. Sophomore Alexander Reimund led the way, taking fourth in 18:16. Sophomore Alex Bryson was the second man in, taking 22^nd in 18:37. Sophomore Connor Murphy and sophomore Corey Resweber came in close together, with Murphy taking 31^st at 18:50 and Resweber 34^th in 18:53. Of note for Resweber, Corey was running the majority of the race with only one shoe. The fifth man for the team was junior Drew Truax, taking 53^rdwith a time of 19:22.

Click here for complete meet results. 

http://www.baumspage.com/cc/ccevent.php?peventid=300&table=C 

The Warriors have one more race until the post season, as they will compete in the North Coast League championship. The Maroon and Gold will be defending their title, as last season they won the meet by scoring 22 points. The meet is at Squire Valleevue Farm starting at 10:45 a.m.

Warriors defend title at McQuaid Jesuit

Glavin Title also defended for third straight year

For the second straight year, the Walsh Jesuit Men’s Cross Country team returned from New York champions. The varsity successfully defended their AA Seeded title, scoring 100 points with Pittsford Mendon, NY taking second with 143 in the 19-team, 3-mile race. The Maroon and Gold are the first school to win back-to-back titles in the race in more than a decade.

The Warriors were led by senior Brian Brennan, who finished third overall in 14:58. He was also the ninth fastest runner among all the races on the day, which contained more than 7,000 runners. Behind him in another top 10 finish was senior Jordan Shepherd, who came in at 15:22. Senior Will Nouse worked his way up the field to crack the top 20, going 15:41 to finish 19^th.  Senior Cole Francetic was the fourth Warrior under 16 minutes, taking 32^nd with a time of 15:55. The top five was rounded out by senior Evan Freeman, who caught a number of runners down the stretch to finish 38^th in 16:11.

The Maroon and Gold also successfully defended the Glavin Cup, which goes to the top Jesuit School in all of the races. Strake Jesuit, from Texas, provided a worthy challenger to take the title away from the Warriors. The cup goes to the best average time from the top five runners. Both teams averaged 15:37, which meant it came down to a sixth man tiebreaker. Junior Nick Ondracek was the sixth man for Walsh Jesuit, coming in at 16:11 which was six seconds faster than Strake Jesuit’s sixth man.

In the AA Varsity B race, the Warriors were once again in a tight battle with Mendon. This time, Mendon rallied late to defeat the Maroon and Gold, 37 to 47 in the 29-team race. Leading the way for the Warriors was senior Brent Stevenor, who took third in a time of 16:40. Sophomore Alexander Reimund was fifth overall, just ahead of sixth place finisher senior David Harvan, who went 16:49 and 16:50, respectively. Junior Drew Truax and senior Bobby Corrigan also came in together, both running 17:02 to finish 16^th and 17^th. As a team, in a race with more than 300 runners, the Warriors managed 10 in the top 50.

Click here for complete meet results.
http://www.mcquaidinvitational.com/result/2012/index.html

The Warriors will have a short trip over to Stow this coming weekend, as they compete at the Stow Bulldog Invitational. There will be a number of potential regional meet competitors in the race, including Boardman, Twinsburg, Chardon, Hudson, GlenOak and Mentor.

Warriors take fourth at Todd Clark Invitational

Varsity works together to move the field

The Walsh Jesuit men’s cross country team competed in the Todd Cross Country Invitational at Cloverleaf High School on Saturday. The varsity, which lacked a few runners for resting purposes, finished fourth in the 16-team varsity race.

The Warriors scored 117 points, behind winner Mentor (68), Avon (83) and Kenston (89). The team was led by senior Will Nouse, who worked his way up the field to finish 14th in 17:25. The next four runners stayed close throughout the race and all finished in the 20th place range. JuniorNick Ondracek was 23rd at 17:46, junior Andy Harwood was 24th at 17:49, senior Brent Stevenor was 27th at 17:57 and senior David Harvan was 29th at 18:00.

The Maroon and Gold had several nice finishes in the top open races. In the junior-senior race, senior Bobby Corrigan was fourth at 18:55, senior Alex Rinehart was 29th at 19:37 and juniorAlex Lauria was 35th at 19:41. In the freshman-sophomore race, the Running Warriors had two top 10 finishers. Sophomore Alec Bryson was fourth at 18:27 and sophomore Connor Murphywas 18:34. The other two high placers came from sophomore Corey Resweber, taking 29th at 19:19, and freshman Brenden Meyer, taking 31st at 19:22.

Click the link below for complete meet results: 

http:www.baumpage.com/cc/ccevent.php?pevntid=4&table=C 

The team will take its longest road trip of the season, as they head to Rochester, New York to compete at the McQuaid Invitational. The team will look to defend the Glavin Cup, which goes to the top Jesuit school in all races. Since the award was introduced two years ago, the Warriors have won it both times.

Warriors place second at Galion Invitational

Brennan races away from field to win individual title

The Walsh Jesuit men’s cross country team traveled south to compete in the Galion Cross Country Festival this weekend. Facing a pair of state ranked teams in New Albany and Pickerington North, the Warriors placed second with 112 points. They were five behind winner New Albany (107) and beat Pickerington North (134) in the 26-team field.

The varsity was led by senior Brian Brennan, who worked his way up to the lead pack in the first half of the race, then ran away in the second half of the race to secure the win in a time of 15:38. Also placing in the top 10 was senior Jordan Shepherd, who caught a couple of New Albany runners to finish seventh in 16:04. Senior Cole Francetic was the third man in for the Warriors, taking 25th in a time of 16:33. Senior Evan Freeman was 35^th in 16:44 and junior Nick Ondracek rounded out the top five with a 44^th place finish.

In the open race, the team placed third with 52 points, behind winner Cincinnati Elder (28) and Pickerington North (44). Junior Andy Harwood became the second Warrior in as many years to win the open race, going 16:56. Francetic won the race last year. Sophomore Alexander Reimund also placed in the top 10, finishing seventh in 17:30. Junior Drew Truax and sophomore Alec Bryson came in close together, with Truax taking 11^th at 17:47 and Bryson 14^th at 17:49. Senior Bobby Corrigan was the fifth man, capturing 19^th in a time of 18:00.

Click the link below for complete meet results:  

http:www.baumpage.com/cc/ccevent.php?peventid=4&table=C 

Warriors defend Tomahawk Run title

Senior class goes out winner on home course

It was a successful and memorable day for the Walsh Jesuit Men’s cross country team as the seniors on the varsity competed in their final meet on their home course. Thanks to rain, muddy conditions dominated the campus and the “swale” was flowing strong. However, this did not prevent strong showing from the Warriors.

The varsity defended their Tomahawk Run title, scoring 65 points with Strongsville keeping it close with 79 in the 13-team race. Senior Brian Brennan led the way for the Maroon and Gold, finishing third and running with the leaders for most of the race. Senior Jordan Shepherdnabbed the final top 10 spot, while seniors William Nouse, Cole Francetic and Evan Freeman all came in within seven seconds of each other. Nouse took 14^th, Francetic 16^th and Freeman 22^nd to round out the varsity.

The junior varsity used a strong pack to win their race. The Warriors scored just 30 points, edging Massillon Jackson who finished 36 in the 13-team race. The top five for Walsh Jesuit all finished in the top 10, led by junior Andy Harwood with a second place finish. The next four on the team came in within seven seconds of each other. Junior Drew Truax was fourth, sophomore Alec Bryson fifth, sophomore Connor Murphy ninth and sophomore Alexander Reimund 10^th.

The freshman competed in their first 5K of the season, and for some, their first 5K in their life. The team placed seventh out of eight with 182 points, as St. Ignatius won the freshman race with 50 points. Brad Rinehart led the way in 39^th, followed by Jack Matonis in 47^th, Jack Titgemeierin 54^th, Mike Indriolo in 60^th and Dominic Randall in 68^th.

 The Running Warriors will be back on the road this weekend, heading to Amann’s Reservoir Parkto compete in the Galion Cross Country Festival.  The open race is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. followed by the varsity race at 3:30 p.m.