CORTLAND, OH—Under a blazing noon sun at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds, the Western Reserve Academy boys cross country team capped off three races in nine days with their strongest performance yet. On a course marked by brown grass, looping dirt paths, empty horse stalls—and no hope for shade—the Pioneers embraced the heat, the pace, and the pressure, emerging 13th out of 50 teams at the Legends Invitational.
Over the last two weeks, the program set out to test itself with three competitions in quick succession, sharpening race toughness and discovering how much higher the ceiling could be. On Saturday, the results spoke clearly: while only one athlete ran a personal record, nearly every Pioneer outperformed his seed, lifting the team into the top quarter of a massive and competitive field.
The day's headline belonged once again to junior James Johnston '27, who surged through the opening mile in 5:03, hit the halfway split in 8:04, and never looked back. Out of 408 runners, Johnston stormed to an extraordinary 14th-place finish in 16:58, earning a spot on the podium and the Nike backpack awarded to top finishers. It was a career-defining race that outstripped even his own ambitious hopes for a top-25 finish.
Sophomore Brendan Bennett '28 backed him with a gutsy race, finishing 36th in 17:52. He was the 10th underclassman across the line, and he showed tremendous strength in the second half of the race, surging past nine competitors on his way to the finish. Senior Victor Wang '26 and junior Daniel Randazzo '27 brought composure and heart through the sun, finishing in 19:34 and 19:46, respectively. Senior Rian Arora '26 was close behind at 19:52, while sophomore Arav Mathur '28 delivered the breakthrough of the day: shattering the 20-minute barrier for the first time with a 19:40, a milestone that firmly establishes him in the varsity ranks. Fellow Sophomore Ronan Flowers '28 rounded out the varsity top seven with a 20:21, finishing close to his personal best on a sweltering day.
Together, the Pioneers finished well inside the top tier of the standings, ahead of several large-district programs and teams that had beaten them earlier in the season—a testament to their training, strength, and preparation.
At Legends, surrounded by four of the sport's past greats, WRA wrote its own chapter: a squad built not only to withstand three races in nine days, but to rise through them, racing sharper, smarter, and stronger each time.
Full Results here:
https://oh.milesplit.com/meets/682171-legends-meet-2025/info
Note: Generative AI helped to draft this story based on materials from milesplit.com. It was revised, reviewed and edited by the Boys' XC coaching staff.
