John Marshall’s Zara Zervos, Oak Glen’s Konnor Allison Win John Marshall Invitational
Monarchs girls, Park boys win team titles
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WHEELING -- The calendar flips to October this week and in the cross country world that means the meets begin to take on even more significance.
Runners from nine schools got their final OVAC tuneup Saturday morning at the annual running of the John Marshall Invitational held on the challenging course at Sherrard Middle School.
The host Monarchs claimed the girls team title with 31 points, edging out Linsly, which closed with 57.
Oak Glen and Wheeling Park tied at 45 after five runners, but the Patriots -- by virtue of their sixth result -- took home the top team prize.
GIRLS
John Marshall has been solid most of the season and showed no signs of letting down when it placed all five scorers inside the overall top 15.
Leading the way again was standout junior Zara Zarvos. She shot to the front of the pack immediately and never looked back, winning the title by more than 36 seconds over Linsly's Haley Heitz.
Zervos crossed the line in a solid time of 20:44.71.
"It means a lot to win this meet, honestly," Zervos said.
The win took on greater importance because of the runner-up award Zervos took home each of the last two years.
"It's nice to be able to come out, push myself to the fullest and win the meet," Zervos said. "There are several areas I am trying to improve on with (OVAC and the regional) coming up just to be able to shave as much time as I possibly can. I am happy where I am, but I am not quite where I was last year, so I want to keep improving and working on the little things."
While the Monarchs' meet was held on their course, Zervos admitted that the course, which had to be altered at the last minute prior to the boys' race, isn't where the Monarchs train.
"It's nice to run on a course I don't really know," Zervos said. "I am still able to push myself, do well and win the race. This course is rough."
For Zervos, one of the toughest decisions she had to make came before the race. The course includes several portions that is run on asphalt, but much is also contested in the woods, too.
"I originally didn't want to wear spikes, but with the rain (Saturday morning), the course became that much muddier and I just felt like I had to wear spikes," Zervos said. "Figuring out where asphalt I didn't want to step on was, where hills I could push going up were some of the biggest keys for me."
Other scorers for the Monarchs included Ally Hicks, who was third in 21:38; Natalie Keim, who was ninth in 23:52; Sierra Taylor, who placed 11th in 24:18; and Allie Danna, who was 14th in 24:57.
Linsly, which won an OVAC title a season ago and will be among the favorites to do so again this weekend in Cambridge, was solid. Heitz was complemented by Molly Herron, who placed fourth overall in 21:53.
Maddie Campsey was eighth in 23:37.
Other area runners to break into the top 10 were Oak Glen's Sophia Arner, who was fifth in 22:03; Magnolia's Karina Patel, who was sixth in 22:14; Hundred's Rachel Snedden in 23:09 and Wheeling Park's Maddie Gilson, who placed 10th in 24:02.
BOYS
Wheeling Park and Oak Glen both posted a score -- after displacement -- of 45, but the Patriots prevailed thanks to the tiebreaker.
Park was led by Trent Thomas, who finished fourth overall in 22:02. Other Patriots in the scoring mix were Hyde Alig, who was ninth overall in 23:09; Shawn Crow, who was 10th in 23:28; Eli Miller, who was 12th in 23:39 and Chris Vargo, who was 13th in 23:32.
It was Hunter Midcap, who propelled the Patriots to victory by virtue of his 16th-place finish, which was ahead of Oak Glen's sixth runner.
The Golden Bears, however, produced the meet's top two finishers.
Konnor Allison ran a solid 20:50 on a course, which was believed to be running long after the revisions were made.
Allison -- despite the changes -- stayed with his gameplan, which included wanting to conserve as much energy as possible for the second and third miles to make his move.
"I wanted to stay back in the first mile, let the competition die out and then kick as hard as I could in woods," Allison said. "I am not really happy with my time, but I am happy that I got the win, which is really all that matters."
Allison finished one spot ahead of teammate Mason Konchar, who turned in a 21:25.
"We started pushing the pace once we got into the woods," Allison said.
Allison believes he's in a good spot for the bigger meets coming on the horizon.
"I trained hard during the summer, and I believe I have earned where I am right now," Allison said.
The Golden Bears' third member of the top 10 was Jeremy Adams, who was sixth in 22:19.
John Marshall's Mack Allen was third overall in 22:01, while Linsly's Gabe Hicks was fifth in 22:04.
Brooke's Camden Mackey was seventh in 22:28 and Hundred's Martin Baker finished eighth in 22:30.