By Colin Harris

Record-Courier staff writer

RANDOLPH -- It was a clean sweep for Crestwood and Woodridge for the third straight year as the programs took both the boys and girls Portage Trail Conference cross country championships on Saturday afternoon at the Randolph Fairgrounds.

The pair of Josh Franek and Brandan McGee finished first and second, respectively, for Crestwood as they paced the Red Devils to a 27-point first-place finish in the Metro Division.

Over in the County, Woodridge runners appeared early and often in the top 10 on their way to a 25-point team win.

Franek earned All-PTC honors with his 16:04, first-place run. While his teammate McGee was hobbled going into the afternoon with an illness, he still finished second in 16:06.5, narrowly edging out talented Field runner Ben Mars, who placed third in 16:06.7.

Joining the top two runners among the best finishers were Crestwood teammates Matt Cymanski (sixth, 16:33) and Dylan Becker (seventh, 16:35.4).

"We're really hitting on all cylinders at this point of the year," Crestwood coach Tom Franek said. "We have a lot of seniors on this team, and they know what they have to do to get to the goals they've set for themselves."

Coach Franek talked about how his runners found themselves competing with many of the same faces they'll see down the road in state competition.

"I really think we made a statement as to where we stand in the regional picture," Tom Franek said. "We have to go to the same region as talented programs like Field and Woodridge, and I think we showed ourselves very well today."

The lone remaining Portage County finisher among the top 10 runners was Ravenna's Cody Omaits, who placed 10th in 16:50.

Roosevelt (third, 98), Norton (fourth, 114), Ravenna (fifth, 132), Coventry (sixth, 157), Southeast (seventh, 162) and Springfield (eighth, 237) rounded out the Metro standings.

Meanwhile, the two-time defending Division II state champion Woodridge Bulldogs turned in their fourth straight County title in dominating fashion.

Joe White paced Woodridge with a first-place, 15:29 finish. Joining White in the top 10 were teammates Jimmy Charles (third, 15:46), Michael Rhodes (fifth, 16:46), Vibush Sivakumaran (seventh, 16:55) and Nathan Mercer (ninth, 17:03).

Streetsboro recorded the second-highest area finish with a third-place, 97-point team score. The Rockets were led by Stan Rocuskie (10th, 17:08) and Tom Grice (13th, 17:30).

The highest Portage County finish belonged to Waterloo's Sam Wolford (fourth, 16:43) and Ethan Whittaker (eighth, 16:59). The pair of runners helped Waterloo to a team finish of fourth with 103 points.

Rounding out the remainder of the competition were East Canton (second, 62), Rootstown (fifth, 107) and Garfield (sixth, 145).