Alvelo individual winner, Eagles place third at SWC championships

Continuing his remarkable senior season, Avon’s Jose Alvelo was the individual winner Saturday at the Southwestern Conference cross country championships at Lorain County Community College. Led by Alvelo, the Eagles placed third as a team behind Avon Lake and Berea-Midpark. Alvelo, who didn’t make Avon’s top five last year as the Eagles won the SWC title, came into this season known more for his success as an 800-meter runner in track. He was a member of Avon’s 4x800 relay that reached the state meet last May. His four-second victory Saturday over Avon Lake’s Niko Koutouras was the second time this season that he has crossed the finish line first, with the other happening two weeks ago at Olentangy Berlin. Because of his track experience, Alvelo is confident that he can win races by using a late kick. “Going into this, I knew that at the minimum, I could out-kick (Koutouras) if I had to,” he said. “But I knew he was also an 800 runner, so anything is possible, right? The goal was to open up a gap so I wouldn’t have to worry about it, but he was really strong, and we went back and forth the whole race.” According to Avon coach Matt Nortz, Alvelo’s improvement this season goes back to two things—the confidence he gained after competing in the state track meet, and the solid summer of training that he had leading up to this campaign. “I think a lot of it comes down to his summer of hard work,” said Nortz. “He put in a lot of good long runs and really took his training seriously this summer. I think the momentum of making to the state meet in the 4x800 relay really inspired him to realize that he’s one of the top guys.” As for the team results, the Eagles have been plagued by injuries all season, including junior Nick Thompson, who won the SWC title last year. Thompson also had a solid summer of training and looked strong early in the season, but then injuries derailed him for most of the season. He was Avon’s fourth man Saturday in his return, finishing 26th with a time of 18:22.70. “It’s been frustrating,” said Alvelo. “Nick’s coming back after not racing for something like nine weeks. He hasn’t been running, but he just really wanted to get back. So, we figured, why not? We’re all just trying to make it to the end. I’ve been dreaming of being the No. 1 man since my freshman year. I didn’t want it to happen this way, but I’m proud of how I did.” Following Alvelo to the finish line for the Eagles were sophomore Matthew Lochbihler (14th in 17:42.64), junior Jared Keressi (17th in 17:56.82), Thompson in 26th, junior Owen Burns (27th in 18:23.89), sophomore Anthony Danicki (30th in 18:35.01) and junior Anthony Gallo (35th in 18:47.94). Avon Lake won the race with 57 points, followed by Berea-Midpark with 79, Avon with 85 and Olmsted Falls with 89. “We just weren’t ready to get after it this week, just because of the injuries and people getting back from sickness,” said Nortz. “We weren’t firing on all cylinders this week. I’m really happy that Jose was able to get first place, but these boys know they could have done better. But no matter how they did, I’m proud of how well they ran, the effort they put in—not so much how well they ran, but their effort.” The Eagles will compete October 18 at the Division II district meet at LCC. “It was good that we had our group together today and they got their feet wet,” said Nortz. “Some of them haven’t been racing very much or not at all. So, we’ve just got to keep our eyes focused on districts. Walking away from this, I am optimistic of how well we can do next week. I think we’re obviously going to have a shot at getting to regionals.”