A busy weekend of races, both near and far, is summarized here for everyone in Z-Land:
New Prairie Cross Country Invite
Boys AA Race
Bellmont finished in 13th place in the AA race at one of the biggest events in northern Indiana. Coach Randy Hisner felt that the team performed extremely well, with nearly every boy exceeding expectations.
Logan Whitacre ran his best time of the year for the Braves with a 20:04.2.
Team Places & Scores
1st- Wawasee 132, 2nd-NorthWood 180, 13th-Bellmont 308
Bellmont Times & Places: 20th-Hayden Whittenbarger 17:38.8; 35th-Hudson Krull 18:08.6; 63rd-Maddux Miller 18:46.1; 86th-Harry Gunsett 19:17.3; 104th-Ethan Curtis 19:41.2; 107th-Landon Rich 19:51.4; 115th-Logan Whitacre 20:04.2; Cayden Rauch 20:47.9, Owen Adams 21:08.5
Girls AA Race
Bridget Juengel ran her best 5K time of the year and scored the fourth-best time for the Braves.
Team Scores
1st-Highland 96, 2nd-Kankakee Valley 121, 18th-Bellmont 469
Bellmont Times & Places: 64th-Sydney Angel 23:31.8; 76th-Madison Witte 23:49.6; 102nd-Bre Feasel 25:10.7; 111th-Bridget Juengel 25:57.1; 116th-Lilly Franz 26:30.3; 123rd-Isabella Suarez 27:45.9; 130th-Jaylin Reed 28:10.1; Mackenzie Selzer 28:21.5; Addison Rich 30:07.2
South Adams Cross Country Invite
Boys Race
Dakota Sprunger broke 17 minutes for the first time this season and led the Starfires to a second-place finish, narrowly losing out to Bluffton, who took second and third spots on the podium with Levi Johns and Jude Baumgartner.
Just behind Sprunger was Trevor Schwartz of Adams Central by a second, running his second sub-17 time of the season. Schwartz was followed by Ethan Crockett of AC, who finished sixth.
The Jets finished fourth as a team.
Deacon Bierbaum came in tenth just after the 18-minute mark and was right at his season-best mark on his home course.
For Heritage, the Patriots were led by Corban Roth and Marshall Harris, who both made the top 13.
Team Scores: 1st-Bluffton 83, 2nd-South Adams 89, 3rd-Lakewood Park Christian 90, 4th-Adams Central 104, 5th-Monroe Central 130, 6th-Heritage 143, 7th-Southern Wells 160, 8th-Northfield 191
Times & Places of Note:
1. Zander Ritenour-Lakewood Park 16:18
2. Levi Johns-Bluffton 16:29
3. Jude Baumgartner-Bluffton 16:47
4. Dakota Sprunger-SA 16:50
5. Trevor Schwartz-AC 16:51
6. Ethan Crockett-AC 17:17
10. Deacon Bierbaum-SA 18:01
11. Corban Roth-Heritage 18:05
12. Wyatt Mann-SA 18:16
13. Marshall Harris-Heritage 18:17
17. Gabe Hanford-Heritage 18:40
27. Bryson Edgell-AC 19:02
31. Tyler Schwartz-AC 19:22
38. Alex Alana-AC 19:42
45. Daniel Rupp-SA 20:13
Girls’ Race
Monroe Central was the clear winner in the girls’ varsity 5K, beating out Bluffton and Adams Central for the crown. The Jets needed a few more places to take the runner-up trophy.
South Adams and Heritage ran without complete teams for the event. Addy Watson led the way for the Stars with a tenth-place overall finish and Ava Smith led the Patriots with a time just over 24 minutes.
Madison Gerber was one of just three girls to finish the hot race in under 20 minutes.
Team Scores: 1st-Monroe Central 74, 2nd-Bluffton 89, 3rd-Adams Central 92, 4th-Seton Catholic 111, 5th-Parkway 112, 6th-Lakewood Park 117, 7th-Woodlan 131, 8th-Southern Wells 174, 9th-Winchester 181
Times & Places of Note:
1. Sophia Haslett-Lakewood Park 19:12
2. Charlee Gibson-Blue River Valley 19:50
3. Madison Gerber-AC 19:56
5. Addison Gilbert-AC 20:49
10. Addy Watson-SA 21:36
13. Madison Hamilton-AC 22:11
27. Ava Kinsey-SA 23:42
29. Ava Smith-Heritage 24:08
39. Elise Hissong-Heritage 25:26
About the Author
