Seven All-Conference Honorees Highlight Buckeye Cross Country Season

MEDINA, Ohio - Seven CWC All-Conference honorees capped a Buckeye High School Athletics varsity cross country season that included a girls invitational championship and course-average records for both teams. Senior Dimitry Pshonyak and sophomore Joseph Stahl earned boys first-team honors with times of 16:13.22 and 16:17.86, respectively.

The Bucks opened at the Avon Lake Early Bird Invite in foggy, warm and humid conditions, with the boys pursuing a conference championship. Pshonyak placed third and Stahl ninth as Buckeye scored 170 points, tying Lakewood but finishing seventh on the displacement tiebreaker, seven points behind Westlake. The girls placed 10th with 285 points while missing their fifth runner, led by Hannah Dugan in 28th and Hayleigh Kreeger in 33rd.

The girls delivered a team victory at the Buckeye Invitational on Sept. 12, topping the 14-team field with 52 points. Dugan finished third in 20:47 and Kreeger fourth in 21:03, while Lily Regiec placed 11th and the remaining scorers finished 19th and 20th. In the rainy boys race, Pshonyak and Stahl took the top two places, both clocking 16:06, but Independence edged Buckeye 34-35. All five Bucks scorers finished in the top 25. Seniors from both teams were recognized after the meet.

At the Todd Clark Cloverleaf Invitational on Sept. 26, both varsity teams produced their best finishes and fastest average times for that meet and course. Pshonyak finished second in 16:13, less than a second behind the winner, and Stahl placed 13th as the boys took ninth among 27 teams. The girls finished 14th and led all Division III teams. Dugan placed 31st in a personal-best 20:36, and Kreeger also set a personal best. Buckeye's junior varsity finished 10th.

Depth became a central part of the results at the Woodridge CVNP Invitational on Oct. 3. Both varsity teams placed fourth in the combined maroon and white divisions. The girls took second in the maroon division behind Kreeger in 12th and Dugan in 20th, averaging 22:59 to lower the program's previous course record by more than a minute. With Pshonyak and Stahl resting, the boys placed third in the white division and established a course-record scoring average of 18:47.

The boys followed with ninth place among 27 teams at Medina on Oct. 10, setting a record-fast team average despite resting Gavin Waibel. Pshonyak finished fifth in 16:09 and Stahl seventh in 16:15. The girls competed without their top two runners and placed 21st, with Regiec leading in 104th at a course-personal-best 22:23. Five other girls recorded personal or course-best times, while the boys junior varsity placed sixth.

The Boardman Spartan regional preview supplied another measure against large fields. Buckeye's girls finished sixth among 42 Division III teams, and the boys placed seventh among 31 Division II teams. Dugan was 24th, while Pshonyak and Stahl finished fourth and fifth. Both squads posted their best course finishes and fastest top-five averages, 22:16 for the girls and 17:30 for the boys. The boys junior varsity added third place among 23 teams.

The conference honors reached across four classes. Seniors Nolan Rieth and Waibel received boys honorable mention with times of 17:11.65 and 17:24.42, respectively. Dugan earned girls second-team recognition as a freshman with a time of 20:37.65. Sophomore Kreeger received honorable mention at 20:53.69, joined by junior Regiec at 21:57.28. All three girls honorees were underclassmen, while Stahl was the lone underclassman among Buckeye's four boys selections.