Tommy Mooney of Chagrin Falls and Carter Schaubert of Jefferson have battled for position in the past two races. Mooney edged Schaubert at Cardinal a week ago for the final podium spot. At the Madison U Wanna Come Back Invitational on Sept. 28, the two battled through the rain for the top spot. Mooney led coming to the final straight. When he turned his head to check the gap, Schaubert made his move. The two crossed the finish line in tandem, but the Tigers senior had the lean to take home top honors in the Division II/Division III race. He crossed the line with a 16:04.03 to Schaubert’s 16:04.23. The two-tenths was closer of a result than Mooney wanted but he was happy to win. “It was iffy conditions with the rain,” Mooney said. “We didn’t expect that but we came in with a good mindset. We were prepared to race all week and we love the course. We battled it out for every spot we can.” The Tigers also had strong results throughout the field. Kelan Byrne took fourth (16:28.39) and Zach Huey was eighth (16:33.11). PHOTOS: Madison U Wanna Come Back Invitational cross country, Sept. 28, 2024 Along with two others in the top 30, it led to the team title in the D-II/D-III race for the Tigers. They scored 60 points to Maplewood's 62. "Keeping my pace even has been a problem for me this season so I did that a lot better overall," Byrne said. "We're following our coaches' training plan, tapering these last couple of weeks. It's a confidence boost as well, we're looking forward to the rest of the season." There were also several other strong performances from coverage area runners. West Geauga's Jacob Williams was fifth with a 16:29.38 for a personal record. Madison's Owen Bottar rounded out the top 10 with a 16:42.83, also a PR. Geneva's Donald Shymske (12th) had a strong kick to the line and Beachwood's duo of Junbo Wang (14th) and Henrik Burda (16th) both turned PRs as well. The Bison's strong performances also translated in the girls D-II/D-III race, as Sasha Kheyfets finished runner-up with a 19:06.89 for a PR and fastest time in the area this year. She was on the heels of Ashtabula St. John's Emma Phillips. The two battled to the line at the Division III state meet a season ago, Kheyfets said that battle helped her focus. "She's very sweet and when I realized it was her, I knew I could be with her," Kheyfets said. "Seeing a familiar face like that really helped. I remembered you have to get out early for the tight spots and then in the woods, it's easy to push there." Perry had the return of Holly Vis after offseason surgery and she showed off in her first race this season. She was seventh with a 20:34.10. While Vis was absent, freshman Hazel Kananen emerged as a strong runner, and she was 14th at Madison. Vis is familiar with that role from when she served as the young spark plug for Cori Lynch and Grace McKoon. "It's great to have her there to help with the workouts," Vis said. "We did one on Thursday with me, Audrey (Morgan-Ard) and Hazel, pushing each other. We did that in the race too, pushing through that first mile." Also with strong performances were Geneva's Mackenzie Lyons (11th) and Madison's Katie Kovacs (20th). In the girls Division I race, while the top seven broke away, Riverside's Megan Sullivan and Chardon's Briella Hewitt battled to the line and finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Both are familiar with the course layout and view it as a great preview for the district meet in three weeks. They bested one of the strongest runners in the district pool, Cleveland Heights' Kassadi Thompson, to the line. "I like to go out a little slower and did that today," Sullivan said. "That allowed me to have some more left for the last mile so I could finish strong." Hewitt added: "It's tough to get out between the poles. You have to keep your head up to know what's going on to stay engaged and that's really beneficial." Mira Palombo finished 12th for the Hilltoppers. University turned a strong performance as well, led by Jack O'Neill in sixth. Along with four other runners in the top 20, the Preppers took home team runner-up honors with 72 points, behind only Stow. "Mentally when you have to race with place not time in mind, it helps being familiar with the course," O'Neill said. "This is the third year here for me, I was focused on that. We have a new coach and he's helped switch the culture. Summer running is more serious, Sunday long runs are serious and it's been working, our top five were all under 17 today." Chardon also featured two in the top five for the D-I race with Caleb and Jacob Niesbet finishing third and fifth respectively.