The SWC record book goes all the way back to the 1960s for Cross Country. Since then there are only two teams to win more than 3 championships in a row. Bay Village did it back in the 1970s and nearly 40 years later the Avon Lake High School boys team accomplished it.
The winning tradition of the Avon Lake Boys Cross Country program continued last Saturday at LCCC with their fourth straight SWC Championship. The boys have won the SWC championship in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
During this run, the boys have had individual champions, they have won two Division I District championships and they competed at the state meet. Their team over this period has graduated several runners now competing in College including Division I programs.
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In addition to the Varsity team winning, the Avon Lake J.V. team took first place in the J.V. race on Saturday and this was also their fourth straight championship.
For most of the season, the boys have battled injuries and they have only run at full strength the last two meets. This was evident on Saturday with a key team victory. They ran in a tight pack finishing all seven of their runners before most of the other teams’ top five runners. They scored 50 points beating runner-up Brecksville with 79 points and Amherst with 83 points.
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The Shoremen varsity runners placed first with the performance of Devin Arora (6th), Tom Parsons (8th), Tim Villari (9th), James Darkow (11th), Trent Glaser (16th), Nick Nix (23rd) and Riley Jantz (28th). Only a little over a minute separated the boys in their victory. This was a special day for Parsons who has enjoyed being part of the four SWC Championships.
The J.V. team also won in convincing manner as Michael Callesen (2nd), Patrick Shulte (3rd), Jared Shelar (8th), Chip Connolly (11th), Aaron Assaf (23rd), Mitch Carlson (24th), Brandon Baiers (29th) and Ethan Harris (32nd) claiming their 4th straight JV SWC Title for the Shoremen.
In the Junior High SWC race, the Avon Lake boys’ finished second with Alex Holtz (4th) and Andy Shee (12th) leading the way. They were followed by Matt Furrer (17th), Stefan Nieschwitz (23rd), Peter Sheperd (24th), Michael Petrus (29th) and Daniel Francy (32nd).
The Avon Lake Boys and Girls High School Teams will compete next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Lorain County Community College for the District championships.