A flat course and cool weather led to several strong showings Sept. 21 at the Cardinal Invitational. The boys’ race featured a four-runner breakaway, including Chagrin Falls’ Tommy Mooney. While he wasn’t able to catch Emmitt Slabach of South Range or Brandon Gent of Orange, Mooney rounded out the podium places and broke 16 for the first time in his career with a 15:55.99. Racing among returning state qualifiers at the front of the field served as a strong confidence booster for the senior with the postseason on the horizon. “It was awesome to be up there with them,” Mooney said. “Last week at Boardman, they were up there and I had a mediocre performance. But coming out here today, competing with those guys, a big confidence boost for me to know that I’m up there with some of the top guys in the region.” Mooney wasn’t the only Tiger to turn a big performance, as Kelan Byrne was fifth with a 16:16.75 and Zach Huey was sixth with a 16:37.28, both with personal records. Mooney, Byrne and Huey have helped the Tigers’ growth and progression this season. They are in the state poll and have seen the back half of the order continue to lower their times all season. Chagrin Falls finished second with 71 points, one point behind Jefferson for the team title. “I saw guys out there today that I had never beaten before and they’re all inspirations to me,” Byrne said. “Being able to be up there and stick with them was my main goal. Doing well on this course also gives us all confidence too.” Huey added: “It helps build our confidence. We know that we can run well here and we can post times like today. It’s about teaching these guys that you can run fast. It’s all about the training and being able to show them that days like today can happen, so long as you have the push to be there and work for it.” West Geauga’s Jacob Williams and South’s Ethan Scott rounded out the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively. Williams posted a 16:44.61 while Scott had a 16:46.67, both setting PRs and Scott breaking 17 for the first time in his career. In the girls race, nobody caught Hathaway Brown’s Anna Prusak, who posted an 18:38.97 for the top spot on the podium. But Kirtland’s Izzie Copeland gave her best attempt. Copeland was seventh at the first mile but worked her way through the field in the final 2.1 miles, including beating the Blazers’ Leah McDonnell, Grand Valley’s Anna Steimle and Jefferson’s Sophia Kereky to the line for second with a new PR of 19:25.80. Copeland has been one of the Hornets leaders this year, along with Sylvia Vosicky and Ainsley Borthwick, to help guide the team. With freshmen including Kylie Sayle, Anna Hill and Sarah Zivko making early strides, Copeland is happy with the progress and development of the team. “I wanted to go out not too hard because my PR was a minute slower than my result today,” Copeland said. “Once I hit the woods, I just spotted girls and picked them off and kept that going in the last mile. We’ve had a bunch of freshmen come up and they’re determined to do well so we’ve been keeping them constantly motivated.” Hathaway Brown took home the team title with 28 points, followed by Chardon (87 points) and Kirtland (104). The Hilltoppers charge was led by Briella Hewitt who was eighth with a 20:08.49 and Mira Palombo in 11th with a 20:21.76. Chardon is in a rebuilding year with several young runners playing more important roles than last year. Hewitt has also needed time to adjust to being the lead runner. After a Boardman Invitational last week that the team quickly moved on from, she sees it as a good relaunching point for the team. “I haven’t had Rae (Kawalec) this year since she graduated, I would pace myself off of her last year,” Hewitt said. “Mira has helped push me and we’ve been running together. We’re trying to get better and motivate each other from week to week so that come postseason we’re all pushing each other.”