CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Every distance runner has that moment when doubt and pain do battle with determination and strength.
Rocky River senior Elyse Bierut encountered it at the Division I state cross-country meet last month. As she raced toward the finish near the lead with three other runners, experience taught her how to wage the battles within, and with her competitors.
"I think it's something I've improved upon a lot over the four years," she said. "I remember thinking, 'This is where I used to give up, and this is where I used to get scared and back down.' I knew if I was going to be at the top, I had to compete with them."
She did. The top four runners finished six seconds apart, and Bierut was second in a career-best 18:08.46, the highest finish ever by a Rocky River runner.
"I gave it everything I had at the end. I feel I was able to fight and compete," she said.
Bierut is The Plain Dealer's Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year. As a co-captain and the lone senior, Bierut provided strong leadership for a team that jumped from Division II last year to Division I. She placed 11th in Division II last year.
"She's the best runner that has gone through our high school," coach Laura Brabant said. "She set the school record three times. She was a four-time state qualifier and three-time academic All-Ohio."
Bierut, who has a 4.1 grade-point average, is a National Honor Society member and treasurer of student council.
"The two go completely hand in hand," she said of academics and cross-country. "Cross-country mainly attracts people that are pretty type-A. The sport is different from other sports. If you want to subject yourself to running for six days a week at least, for 12 months, then you have to have the same type of mentality to be academically disciplined."
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
ELYSE BIERUT
Rocky River
Senior
College: Undecided.
Notable: Placed second at Division I state meet with a personal-best time of 18:08, the eighth-fastest in Ohio this season and it broke her own school record. She was the Tiffin regional, Lorain district and West Shore Conference champion. She also won the Gilmour and Strongsville invitationals. She placed second at the Medina and Avon Lake invitationals, and was third at the Tiffin Carnival. A co-captain and the lone senior, she helped a young team adjust to moving up from Division II to Division I. She was a four-time state qualifier and two-time All-Ohioan.
OTHER ALL-STARS
SAMMY BOCKOVEN
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
Freshman
College: Undecided.
Notable: Was the Division II state runner-up, the highest finish by a freshman in the Division II race since 2003. She clocked a personal-best time of 18:28 and was All-Ohio. She was the Tiffin regional and Akron district champion. She also won the Walsh Jesuit, Malone, Spartan and Legends invitationals and was the Billy Goat Challenge runner-up.
ANNA BOYERT
Medina
Senior
College: Undecided.
Notable: Placed fourth for the second year in a row at the Division I state meet in 18:12. She led portions of the race. She placed third at the Tiffin regional, fifth at the Strongsville district and second at the Northeast Ohio Conference meets. She had top-10 finishes at the Medina and Galion invitationals. A four-time state qualifier, she earned three top-10 finishes and All-Ohioan honors.
THERESE HAISS
Solon
Junior
College: Undecided.
Notable: Placed fifth and earned All-Ohio honors at the Division I state meet in a career-best 18:18. She was the Boardman regional runner-up and placed sixth at the Goodyear district and fourth at the Northeast Ohio Conference meet. She won her first four meets of the season at the GlenOak, Mentor, Walsh and McDonough invitationals. She was sixth at Strongsville and third at Gilmour and Medina.
SHAKITA KABICEK
Midpark
Senior
College: Undecided.
Notable: Placed 17th and earned All-Ohio honors at the Division I state meet in a personal-best 18:39. She was the Southwestern Conference champion and placed third at the Strongsville district and ninth at the Tiffin regional. She won the Widewater Invitational and was the Woodridge Invitational runner-up.
KRISTA ROEHLIG
Green
Senior
College: Ohio University.
Notable: Placed 21st and earned All-Ohio honors at the Division I state meet in a personal-best 18:46.48. She was the Malone district champion and placed fourth at the Boardman regional. She was the Suburban League runner-up. She won the Malone Invitational and had top-six finishes at the Medina, Boardman, GlenOak and Gilmour meets.
MARISSA ROSSETTI
St. Vincent-St. Mary
Junior
College: Undecided.
Notable: Led SVSM to the Division II state championship, placing eighth overall and fourth in the team race in a career-best 18:33. She was All-Ohio. She was the Tiffin regional runner-up and finished third at the Akron district. She won the Midwest Catholic Invitational and had top-five finishes at the GlenOak, Dave Clegg, Tiffin and Spartan invitationals.
COACH OF THE YEAR
KERRY HUNTER
Brunswick
Notable: The Blue Devils won their first state championship after placing fifth last year and fourth in 2009. They won the closest race of the state meet, beating runner-up Beavercreek, 113-118. It was a relatively young team with two seniors, two sophomores and a freshman in its top five, but four had state meet experience. Brunswick thrived against a difficult schedule, winning invitationals at Revere, Avon Lake, Tiffin and Boardman, as well as the Midwest Meet of Champions and the Legends Meet. The Blue Devils were second at the Strongsville Invitational and the Northeast Ohio Conference meet. They won the Strongsville district and Tiffin regional. Hunter also is Brunswick's boys coach, and he coached its 1999 state champion team. He teaches fifth grade in Brunswick.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: twarsinskey@plaind.com, 216-999-4661
On Twitter: @TimsTakePD