DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
KINGSLAND – Bluffton put three runners in the top five of Saturday’s season-opening 5K at Norwell to take top team honors among Z-Land teams, but the depth of the Leo Lions ultimately handed them the team victory on a muddy, wet day on an improvised opening course.
Last-minute changes to the start time and the course – some of it due to construction, some of it to the wet conditions – did nothing but hurt overall times beyond how slow they were already going to be with the muddy ground conditions.
Rowyn Norris took third for Leo and the next three teammates behind her took eighth, ninth and tenth, helping the Lions to a two-point win over Eastbrook, who had the individual winner in Alayna Bruckner (19:23.3).
Heritage finished sixth, with senior Emily High guiding young freshman Caelin Voglewede across the line for a pair of top 30 finishes.
Numbers for coach Smith’s team have increased and the team has a bright future after what was accomplished Saturday.
Adams Central’s five runners ran well enough to beat out Bellmont by one point for seventh place. Adi Rumschlag climbed the hill 26 seconds ahead of Haley Jauregui, who was very close to last year’s PR in this first race of the season.
The Bellmont team was paced, like in the boys race, by a pair of freshmen. Bristol Scherry ran an outstanding 23:42.6 in her first high school race and Elle Garcia just missed out on a Top-40 finish, but still beat out all her more experienced teammates.
Several new faces to the team completed a competitive 5K for the first time, overcoming adversity to cross the finish line for the Braves.
Top Ten Individuals
1st-Alayna Bruckner-Eastbrook 19:23.3
2nd-Abby Ramseyer-Bluffton 20:22.4
3rd-Rowyn Norris-Leo 20:47.1
4th-Cora Kunkel-Bluffton 21:05.5
5th-Erin Ramseyer-Bluffton 21:37.8
6th-Aubrie Neuenschwander-SW 21:57.9
7th-Avery Dewar-Eastbrook 22:25.7
8th-Bella Wenninger-Leo 22:31.1
9th-Hailey Zurcher-Blackhawk Christian 22:32.5
10th-Audri Bultemeier-Leo 22:37.8
Team Scores: 1st-Leo 64; 2nd-Eastbrook 66; 3rd-Bluffton 72; 4th-Norwell 75; 5th-Southern Wells 135; 6th-Heritage 193; 7th-Adams Central 196; 8th-Bellmont 197
Heritage Places & Times: 28th-Emily High 24:44.1, 29th-Caelin Voglewede 24:45.2; 40th-Ava Gerber 25:50.6; 45th-Elise Hissong 26:28.7; 51th-Lily Hoting 26:46.9; Cortney Moake 27:45.0; Audrey Meyer 28:00.5
Adams Central Places & Times: 24th-Adi Rumschlag 24:23.8; 32nd-Haley Jauregui 24:49.9; 33rd-Hailey Brune 25:01.4; 53rd-Ava Powell 26:58.6; 54th-Lexi Linder 27:01.1
Bellmont Places & Times: 17th-Bristol Scherry 23:42.6; 41st-Elle Garcia 25:57.2; 42nd-Bridget Juengel 25:59.2; 47th-Sydney Angel 26:30.2; 50th-Madeline Witte 26:36.2; 52nd-Lilly Franz 26:51.0; 58th-Isabelle Buuck 28:00.4; Addyson Fennig 28:07.7; Haylee Franz 28:18.2; Isabella Suarez 30:35.5; Makenna Rich 35:39.6; Savannah Lindsey 36:31.0; Journy Mann 39:54.7; Alayna Baker 44:59.0
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