Cardinal Middlefield Invitational: Meet Recap

MileSplit Ohio's Nate Shively was on scene Saturday morning at the Cardinal Middlefield Invitational at Cardinal High School. This was a meet that saw the Division 3 boys No. 9 McDonald and the girls No. 26 McDonald teams headline both races.

In the boys contest, returning All-Ohioan Brody Rupe of McDonald ran the ninth fastest time in Division 3 this season with a 15:57.50 solo effort, beating runner-up Max Bogardus of Grand Valley by nearly 70 seconds. The rest of the top five for McDonald all finished in the top ten, cementing McDonald as the team champions with a score of 27.

This was also the debut of some highlighter neon uniforms by McDonald. I was a fan, and the uniforms must be fast considering the team's dominant performance. Garfield, led by senior Cody Leasure, finished second in the team race with a score of 75. 

On the girls side, state-ranked McDonald came into the race with a reduced squad, running only five girls total. While freshman Lily Cappuzzello of McDonald took the individual win in 20:32, a seven minute spread between McDonald's five finishers left the door open for the Garfield girls to take the team title. Led by senior Isabelle Puleo and junior Grace Spreitzer, the unranked Garfield girls beat McDonald 37 to 42. Kirtland junior Reilly Greenlee ran an impressive race, finishing second in 20:42.

Brody Rupe and the McDonald boys team look to build upon their fast performance this week at the Trumbull County Championships. The McDonald girls look to get healthy and field a full, fast squad this weekend.