Sauers uses a change in strategy to pull away from the lead pack and get the overall win, helping Hudson's girls finish fourth. Hudson's boys finish second.
BOARDMAND, Ohio — Hudson sophomore Caroline Sauers was greeted at the Spartan Invitational finish line by a friend who hugged her and said, "That was out of the blue!"
Well, yes, it was. On a clear, blue-sky day, dressed in a dark blue uniform, Sauers blew out of the lead pack and blew up a lot of predictions with her upset win in 19:10.93 Saturday at Boardman High School.
"I'm really surprised I won. Last year, I didn't do as well as I'd hoped and I ran here twice, and I thought maybe this wasn't the course for me. I was really nervous," said Sauers, who placed 21st at last year's Spartan Invitational, and 82nd at the 2009 regional meet on the same course.
Sauers was tucked in a tight pack of eight runners for much of the Division I race. Among them were 2009 Spartan champ Mackenzie Rankin of Louisville and 2009 Spartan champ Katie Betts of Stow.
"I had a new strategy this time. Instead of going out fast and staying in the front, I started out fast and set a comfortable pace," Sauers said. "Then when I was ready, I kicked it in the last mile. It worked for me."
Rankin finished second, nearly four seconds behind, followed by Green's Krista Roehlig, Betts and Brunswick's Selena Pasadyn.
It was a good day for Hudson all around, as well as teams from St. Vincent-St. Mary, McDonald and Pennsylvania powerhouse North Allegheny.
Hudson's girls were a respectable fourth behind North Allegheny, North Canton Hoover and Brunswick. The Explorers' boys were second to North Allegheny in Division I, and more importantly, ahead of league rival Solon, 156-207. Hudson's top four were separated by just 21 seconds between 13th and 28th, with Nolan Reilly leading the way (16:53.96).
"All four ran well," Hudson boys coach Rod O'Donnell said. "We will live or die on our pack as a team."
Hoping to break 16 minutes in his first race in two weeks because of an illness, Revere's Josh Sabo appeared disappointed with his third-place finish (16:10.55) in Division I behind a pair of North Allegheny standouts. Sabo led the first mile.
"I'm going to think of this race come state meet and I'm going to get mad about it," Sabo said.
SVSM won the Division II girls race to no one's surprise, and the Irish boys pulled off an upset of shorthanded Woodridge.
The Irish's Maria Arnone, Tessa Weigand and Marissa Rossetti finished 5-6-7 as SVSM beat rival Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, 60-87, in a fast-paced race.
"We run together and we know we can push ourselves in a tight pack. We know what it takes," Arnone said.
St. Clairsville senior Jamie Perzanowski set a hard pace and won in 18:57.35, and the runner-up was Maria Moore of Woodridge (18:57.82). Defending state champ Christina Blair of CVCA finished third and Perry's Abbie Clifford placed fourth.
"It was a big PR for me," said Moore, whose previous best was 19:24. "I learned I can go out with the top runners and stay with them."
Woodridge was missing two of its top three runners. Preseason No. 1 Kyle Cochrun still is out with a leg injury and Vibushan Sivakumaran was benched. So with the door open, SVSM became the first Division II team to beat Woodridge since 2005. Irish senior Jacob Swords was second in 16:30.48, 11 seconds behind Chillicothe Unioto's Adrian Ross.
"They had two guys out, and that's huge. We still have the utmost respect for Woodridge, but it was a good show for our guys," SVSM coach Dan Lancianese said.
McDonald won Division III boys and girls team titles. Berkshire junior Matt Pelletier (16:02) and Hawken sophomore Ally Markovich (19:27) were individual champs. Pelletier, Delta's Colin Fisher and Trinity's Nick Gliha led until the last half mile when Fisher made a move. Pelletier caught Fisher in a dead sprint in the last 100 meters and won by 2.75 seconds. Gliha was third.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: twarsinskey@plaind.com, 216-999-4661