NORTON — Cross country races often take shape slowly.
Not the Suburban American girls championship race. Maybe 20 seconds in, Aurora was already toward the front of the pack, with Audrey Miller leading the way.
"It was a downhill start," Miller said. "I wanted to take advantage of it, and then I just like getting out fast and then kind of settling into my rhythm. So that's what I tried to do and then carry momentum into the uphill."
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The sophomore never let up, winning her first league championship by a 40-second margin with a time of 18:22.2.
The Greenmen never let up either, landing three runners in the top four — sophomore twins Claire and Evelyn Jenkins finished third and fourth, respectively — and eight in the top 18. With 33 points, Aurora finished well in front of runner-up Revere (57) and third-place Kenston (68) and not far from the top score possible (15).
"It's just really fun," Miller said. "We all really like it and want to get better and it's just fun to have each other to train with and work together towards our goals and go to state hopefully together."
Miller and the Jenkins twins all finished in the top eight of the Suburban American a year ago as well, with Miller rising from eighth a year ago to first this season — with a time that was nearly a minute-and-a-half faster.
"She runs consistently through the whole race," Greenmen coach Laura Bell said. "She really is just a strong runner, like from the start to the end. [She's] very consistent, very even."
Equally striking was Aurora's depth as sophomore Mia Paech (12th, 20:53.6), freshmen Makayla Cicero (13th, 20:54.4) and Audra Leigh (15th, 21:01.9) and sophomores Haley Koch (17th, 21:15.8) and Jenny Kolta (18th, 21:21.8) ran in a pack for much of the afternoon.
That depth should help in the postseason. The Greenmen hope to make a repeat run to Fortress Obetz after finishing sixth in the state last year.
"That was a little bit of a fight today, too, is knowing, 'Hey, like, who's running next week?' because it has kind of flip-flopped throughout the season," Bell said. "That is something special to have a four and a five and a six and a seven, because a lot of teams will [just] have the top one or top two, and so having that depth is really important."
While Miller surged from eighth to first to win the Suburban American individual title, Highland's Katherine Schuler rose from fourth in the American Division in 2025 to first in the National Division in 2026.
"It's a really big honor," Schuler said. "I've gotten it a couple times in track, but I've never gotten better than fourth in cross country, and especially coming from the small school side, it's definitely a really big accomplishment."
Although the various changes in the composition of the Suburban League shifted the standings — and competitive landscape — at Silver Creek Metro Park, Schuler said she wasn't particularly daunted by the change in divisions.
"I wouldn't say it's really an adjustment mainly because I race against these girls all the time," Schuler said. "We all pretty much stay in Northeast Ohio so pretty much every week, I'm racing at least a couple of the top girls here."
Nordonia's Aiden Flynn made the opposite but equally successful adjustment, rising from fifth in the National last year to first in the American with a time of 16:26.7. He thus followed in the footsteps of teammate Anderson Seredick, who won the National championship a year ago.
"It feels great," Flynn said. "It was a really good race, to be honest. It's been hard, I've been feeling soreness throughout the week, so it was really good to get this win today."
While the girls side featured two repeat team champs — Aurora in the American and Wadsworth in the National — Suburban League newcomers took home both boys team titles with Kenston winning the American and Medina winning the National. Solon senior Matthew Scipione, another Suburban League newcomer, won the National individual title with a time of 16:20.8.
Team results
- Suburban American girls: 1. Aurora 33; 2. Revere 57; 3. Kenston 68; 4. Copley 111; 5. Twinsburg 133; 6. Nordonia 148; 7. Mayfield 188
- Suburban National girls: 1. Wadsworth 64; 2. Stow-Munroe Falls 64; 3. Hudson 91; 4. Brecksville 91; 5. Solon 99; 6. Medina 113; 7. Highland 133; 8. North Royalton 253
- Suburban American boys: 1. Kenston 30; 2. Nordonia 71; 3. Revere 76; 4. Aurora 102; 5. Copley 118; 6. Twinsburg 132; 7. Mayfield 182; 8. Barberton 258
- Suburban National boys: 1. Medina 38; 2. Hudson 78; 3. Stow-Munroe Falls 82; 4. Solon 95; 5. Highland 119; 6. Wadsworth 123; 7. Brecksville 161; 8. North Royalton 256
Top 10 finishers
- Suburban American girls: 1. Audrey Miller (Aurora sophomore) 18:22.2; 2. Kaylee Ingratta (Copley sophomore) 19:02.2; 3. Claire Jenkins (Aurora sophomore) 19:11.9; 4. Evelyn Jenkins (Aurora sophomore) 19:45.0; 5. Ella Slaby (Revere senior) 20:31.4; 6. Gianna Rocco (Twinsburg junior) 20:37.0; 7. Giuliana Walters (Kenston senior) 20:43.8; 8. Alani Tomaneng (Revere freshman) 20:45.3; 9. Isabella Walters (Kenston freshman) 20:49.2; 10. Hannah Eldridge (Revere freshman) 20:50.2
- Suburban National girls: 1. Katherine Schuler (Highland senior) 18:33.5; 2. Annalise Costin (Brecksville junior) 18:45.7; 3. Maddie O'Brien (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 18:48.0; 4. Charlee Skeen-Adrine (Hudson freshman) 19:45.6; 5. Lillian Hartenburg (Stow-Munroe Falls sophomore) 20:00.5; 6. Ella Dolgowicz (Wadsworth junior) 20:04.1; 7. Natalie Buzard (Wadsworth junior) 20:06.1; 8. Sydney Lader (Solon senior) 20:08.0; 9. Maggie Gerschutz (Wadsworth senior) 20:08.1; 10. Alanya Yanmaz (Medina senior) 20:09.0
- Suburban American boys: 1. Aiden Flynn (Nordonia senior) 16:26.7; 2. Tyler Cingcade (Kenston sophomore) 16:29.0; 3. John Owens (Revere junior) 16:46.5; 4. Matthew Collins (Kenston senior) 16:53.0; 5. Ian McCallin (Kenston sophomore) 16:56.3; 6. Collin Melvin (Nordonia freshman) 16:57.3; 7. Huck Rundo (Kenston sophomore) 17:18.3; 8. Ryan Sweeney (Twinsburg sophomore) 17:20.5; 9. Brayden Malpass (Copley senior) 17:30.8; 10. Brayden Stenger (Aurora junior) 17:32.5
- Suburban National boys: 1. Matthew Scipione (Solon senior) 16:20.8; 2. Zach Sohar (Medina senior) 16:38.1; 3. Liam Knuth (Hudson sophomore) 16:42.7; 4. Rajeev Patil (Solon junior) 16:45.8; 5. Logan Butsko (Medina senior) 16:47.1; 6. Baylor Harrell (Hudson sophomore) 16:52.5; 7. Henry Wisniewski (Stow-Munroe Falls senior) 16:55.8; 8. Landon Lanham (Wadsworth junior) 16:55.9; 9. Noah Palombo (Medina junior) 16:56.4; 10. Jackson Warfe (Medina sophomore) 16:58.2
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora delivers Suburban League girls cross country title
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