One of the qualities of a strong team is rolling with the punches of a season. A gut punch for Chagrin Falls occurred at the Boardman Regional. The Division II field was deep, with more teams in the state poll than there were team advancement slots. Through the first mile, the Tigers were sitting in the final advancement slot before the punch came in. Tommy Mooney, the Tigers’ top runner this season, lost his shoe after the mile marker. Kelan Byrne, the Tigers’ second runner this year, dealt with illness and a back issue. The other five Chagrin runners needed to step up. And they did just that. Zach Huey ran one of his best strategic races of the season with a 27th-place finish. Peter Mitchell took 79th, and Alec Gresh and William Asplin held on to spots just outside of the top 100 for the Tigers to win the final team spot over Salem by five points. “For me as a senior, I’m just proud,” Asplin said. “I’ve seen these guys grow. We were great my freshman year and fell off a bit. But now we have that regrowth and it’s great to go as a team and it’ll be fun to see these guys grow. Boardman’s a challenging course and we’ve had these issues. But I think it shows resilience as a team. We have these problems but we’re still great and strong” The team advancement is the Tigers’ first since 2013. The runners know that most teams as young as the Tigers would struggle with that many obstacles being thrown at them. Huey and Mitchell said Chagrin Falls isn’t like most teams. Many of the runners already have at least a year of experience and were prepared for the challenges. They also know the meet is a great launching point for the next handful of seasons. “We’ve been working hard on these types of things all year,” Mitchell said. “We’ve done a lot of hill sprints, we’ve done a lot of meets at hilly courses. We were prepared and needed to take a step up. I’m excited because we retain a lot of our core for next year. We can make a push at states next year as well. Everyone is going to come back and be focused and ready for another shot at the state meet.” Huey added: “I was lucky last year to get to run at the meet and was able to tell they guys what to expect coming into the meet. I’m excited for the years to come. Even after graduating, I’m going to be looking back, thinking about this team because it was special to be part of. You build some really strong relationships with these guys over meets.” The theme of the Tigers’ season has been the continued development of the runners working as a team. In a sport that often gives more attention to individual results, the team’s development has taken prominence. Now having seen the development lead to the first state bid in over a decade, the runners aren’t satisfied. They believe that this is the catalyst for the team returning to being one of the top teams in Northeast Ohio. The Tigers were a staple of team results in the 1970s and think this can be the restart of a dynasty like that. “It’s been fun going from my freshman year to junior year,” Huey said. “It’s been cool to see the runners come in and find their spots on the team as time has gone on. Everyone works hard and sees their goals pay off.” Mitchell added: “It’s been great seeing us all improve from year to year. Zach’s had his improvements over the years, Kelan as well. It’s also fun to see new guys come in like James (Marcin) and Alec come in and have great years.” The Tigers will take the course in the D-II race at Fortress Obetz on Nov. 2 at noon.