Salem’s Luke Stephens (1860) and Salem’s Sam Yakubek (1601) compete in the boys Div. II race on Saturday at the regional meet at Boardman High School. (Photo by Ron Firth)

BOARDMAN — In a season when most thought the Salem girls cross country team was starting over, the Quakers were really just starting another run.

“I’m so proud of this team,” senior Paige Menough said. “Everyone kind of put us in the rearview losing all the seniors we did. We wanted to prove ourselves. We wanted this and got this.”

The Quakers were Boardman Division III regional runners-up Saturday to advance to the state meet for the fifth year in a row.

“They wanted to punch their own ticket,” Salem head coach Ted Yuhaniak said. “The seniors wanted to proved they could do it without last year’s seniors. With the tradition here, I wouldn’t have doubted it.”

Graduation took standouts Maggie Hall, Maggie Hopple and Jill Pieren, but not this year’s success.

“We had a great group of seniors last year,” sophomore Liliana Pimentel Alexander said. “We showed we didn’t need them. We love them, but we didn’t need them.”

Salem will run in the Division III state meet at 11:50 a.m. Saturday at Fortress Obetz, just south of Columbus. The Quakers know how to get there.

“It wasn’t surprising,” Pimentel Alexander said.

Salem finished second out of 24 teams with 123 points. Woodridge won the regional title with 98 points after finishing fourth at state last year. The top six teams earned state berths.

“I give our coaches a lot of credit,” Menough said. “We’re planning to peak (Saturday).”

The Salem boys had two state qualifiers — juniors Sam Yakubek and Luke Stephens in Division II.

“It’s unreal,” said Menough, who ran at state last year in place of the injured Laura Hovorka. “You get butterflies like no other.”

The Salem girls had no runners in the top 15, but placed four in the top 30. All seven Quakers placed in the top 68 of the 212-runner field.

Senior Laura Hovorka led the Quakers with a 16th-place finish.

Following her were Pimentel Alexander in 20th, junior Cassidy Wallace 21st, freshman Addison Hopple 30th, freshman Chaya Murray 53rd, senior Emily Sinsley 56th and Menough 68th.

Sinsley and Menough ran personal bests and Pimentel Alexander had a season best.

“We’ve had four different No. 1s and six or seven who could be No. 1 on any give day,” Yuhaniak said. “No one has broken 20 (minutes) yet. They’ve been close. It’s healthy competition.”

He’s excited to see what happens at the state meet.

“That will be the goal, who will be No. 1,” Yuhaniak said. “See if someone gets out and they all go with her.”

“Last year I learned not to be scared and not to run with someone if you feel good,” Pimentel Alexander said. “You’ve got to go.”

She knows what to expect this time around.

“Last year I didn’t know anything about districts or regionals,” she said. “I was more nervous this year because I knew what we were running for.”

“We are going to train hard and prepare for the great competition we will see Saturday,” Menough said.

Salem boys

The Salem boys advanced Yakubek and Stephens, who finished 16th and 24th, respectively, in the crowded Division II field.

It is the second state berth for Yakubek, while Stephens came back after missing the district meet with a knee injury.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Yuhaniak said. “They are two of the best 1-2s in the Northeast Ohio. Luke’s hurting, but he ran well. He wanted to do it for those guys.”

The Salem boys team fell one place shy of a state berth for the third straight year.

The top 10 teams advanced and the Quakers placed 11th with 370 points, 20 behind 10th-place Medina Buckeye.

Yuhaniak said the Quakers were not making any excuses Saturday.

“No complaints about the division they put them in. No complaints about sickness the last month. No complaints about injuries.”

The Quakers increased their mileage this season and thought they were doing what they needed to do.

“You question yourself as a coach, are you holding them back?,” Yuhaniak said. “You know they are talented. They do everything asked of them. You start pointing the finger at yourself.”

Meet notes

¯ With the postseason expansion this year, the Salem boys ran in the largest field ever at the regional meet held at Boardman for decades — with 39 teams and 344 runners.

“I know Northeast Ohio is going to be a battle wherever you go,” Yuhaniak said. “There were 20 teams that had a chance at making it out of 39 teams.”

¯ With 10 teams advancing out of Boardman Division II regionals along with top 20 individuals not on a qualifying, it took a while to sort out the state qualifiers. Not like in the past where the top so many finishers qualified, so all you had to do was count at the finish line.

¯ The Salem girls cross country team wasn’t sure who would be running at the regional meet.

Five runners also play on the Salem girls soccer team that was expecting to play near the same time Saturday.

But the eighth-seeded Salem soccer team lost to 15th-seeded Fairview Park Fairview, 1-0, in overtime Tuesday.

“We were hoping to move the time of the game if we won Tuesday,” said Menough, the goalkeeper. “It was a good problem to have with both teams being so successful. Sadly, we didn’t win the game.”

Alicea Davis, Addison Hopple, Chaya Murray and Emily Sinsley also play on the soccer team.

¯ Pimentel Alexander did not run at the district meet due to disciplinary reasons that were not disclosed.

“It was disappointing,” she said.

“We were all there for her,” Menough said. “Mistakes happen.”

¯ The Quakers were hoping to celebrate having both cross country teams qualify to state for the first time in 20 years. That will have to wait.

It was the memorable 2005 season when the Salem boys and girls swept the Division II state titles. Coach Russ Hopple was wearing a button at Saturday’s meet the Quakers proudly wore that year.