Three weeks away from the opening 5K of the postseason, local cross country teams prepared for their upcoming conference meets with a race Saturday at one of two sites.
South Adams made the long trip to Culver to compete, while Adams Central, Bellmont and Heritage all ran in the New Haven Classic. No matter where the race was held, the weather played a part.
We offer up times, placements, team scores and context for all the local varsity runners here:
New Haven Classic
Teams were split into three divisions for the New Haven Classic, which was run at the Huntington University Cross Country course.
Girls A Division
Adams Central narrowly missed winning the team title, settling for second to Elkhart Christian. Addison Gilbert and Madison Gerber went 8-9 around the 21-minute mark.
Team Scores: 1st-Elkhart Christian 66, 2nd-Adams Central 77, 6th-Southern Wells 159
Top Times: 1st-Ayla Cashdollar-Manchester 19:31.6; 2nd-Charlee Gibson-Blue River Valley 20:03.4; 3rd-Kaleigh Rice-Northfield 20:04.91
Adams Central Times: 8th-Addison Gilbert 20:59.30; 9th-Madison Gerber 21:02.50; 14th-Madison Hamilton 21:52.60; 50th-Alyssa Fruechte 25:07.70; 55th-Haley Jauregui 25:49.10; 71st-Hailey Brune 27:10.80; 96th-Ella Bluhm 31:13.00
Girls B Division
After not running at New Prairie last week, Abigail Rudy took 21st place with an outstanding run that represents a season high, finishing in 21:20.1. Teammate Madison Witte had a similar feat, taking 60th place.
Team Scores: 1st-Hamilton Heights 72, 2nd-Bishop Dwenger 83, 3rd-Norwell 95, 8th-Jay County 220, 9th-Bluffton 263, 10th-Bellmont 273, 11th-Woodlan 291, 16th-Heritage 405
Top Times: 1st-Rowyn Norris-Leo 18:24.80, 2nd-Alayna Bruckner-Eastbrook 19:05.8, 3rd-Ashlynn Myers-Prairie Heights 19:14.50
Bellmont Times: 21st-Abigail Rudy 21:20.1, 51st-Sydney Angel 23:08.0, 60th-Madison Witte 23:25.7, 90th-Lilly Franz 24:32.6, 94th-Bre Feasel 24:44.1, 125th-Isabella Suarez 26:43.5, 126th-Bridget Juengel 26:52.4, 133rd-Jaylin Reed 27:51.1, 136th-Mackenzie Selzer 28:01.8
Heritage Times: 82nd-Ava Smith 24:13.7, 87th-Rosalinda Medina 24:27.9, 91st-Elise Hissong 24:37.21, 118th-Emily High 25:52.3, 121st-Jolena Beckman 26:20.1
Boys A Division
Adams Central took 10th place despite strong runs by Ethan Crockett and Trevor Schwartz, who finished in the top four.
Phillip Bayer ran a season-best time for the Jets.
Team Scores: 1st-Monroe Central 123, 2nd-Lakewood Park Christian 127, 3rd-Manchester 128, 5th-Woodlan 178, 6th-Southern Wells 205, 10th-Adams Central 251
Top Times: 1st-Simon Nickelson-Lapel 16:13.9, 2nd-Ethan Crockett-AC 17:09.0; 3rd-Kyler Dale-Manchester 17:20.70, 4th-Trevor Schwartz-AC 17:22.10
Adams Central Times: 2nd-Ethan Crockett 17:09.0, 4th-Trevor Schwartz 17:22.1, 52nd-Bryson Edgell 19:37.90, 110th-Vince Laukhuf 21:34.0, 119th-Trevor Chamberlain 21:59.1, 159th-Phillip Bayer 24:52.40
Boys AA Division
Bellmont took fifth place Saturday ahead of next week’s NE8 meet.
“We ran pretty well today,” noted head coach Randy Hisner, who noted that the team received medals for the top-five finish.
Hayden Whittenbarger is still on the road to recovery from a recent illness but finished eighth, nonetheless.
Hisner was also quick to point out a big accomplishment for one of his young JV runners, Frank Morgan, who completed all five kilometers for the first time in his lifetime.
Hudson Krull finished under the 18-minute mark for just the second time this season.
For Heritage, Corban Roth and Hayden Amstein each ran their best time in three weeks.
Team Scores: 1st-West Noble 94, 2nd-Wawasee 96, 3rd-Hamilton Heights 98, 4th-Bishop Dwenger 120, 5th-Bellmont 136, 7th-Norwell 189, 8th-Jay County 192, 9th-Leo 192, 10th-Heritage 256
Top Times: 1st-Cooper Enyeart-Angola 16:32.8, 2nd-Graysen Ruch-West Noble 16:45.4, 3rd-Kaden Klink-Angola 16:53.4
Bellmont Times: 8th-Hayden Whittenbarger 17:26.0, 17th-Hudson Krull 17:50.6, 30th-Maddux Miller 18:12.4, 34th-Harry Gunsett 18:18.20, 51st-Ethan Curtis 18:47.5, 54th-Landon Rich 18:53.4, 73rd-Logan Whitacre 19:39.3, 90th-Owen Adams 20:12.7, 97th-Cayden Rauch 20:30.2, 105th-Joe Kozlowski 20:52.4, 108-Brock Scherry 20:55.9, 165th-Frank Morgan 32:13.6
Heritage Times: 23rd-Corban Roth 17:58.1, 58th-Marshall Harris 18:58.5, 60th-Hayden Amstein 18:59.7, 61st-Gabe Hanford 19:08.2, 116th-Alex Smith 21:19.0, 131st-William Voglewede 22:20.2, 139th-Zane VanOsdale 22:58.1, 142nd-Gavin Juricak 23:20.1, 157th-Brock Taylor 26:00.5
Culver Academies Invitational
Boys Closed Race
The Starfires competed in a talented field with a difficult course and gained valuable kms for next week’s race at Bluffton.
Team Scores: 1st-Fairfield 101, 2nd-SB St. Joe 131, 9th-South Adams 276
Top Times: 1st-Evan Correll-Fairfield 16:40.4, 2nd-Leighton Dodt-Pioneer 17:07.3, 3rd-Daylen Schrock-Maconaquah 17:18.0
South Adams Times: 7th-Dakota Sprunger 17:38.2, 21st-Deacon Bierbaum 18:21.1, 45th-Wyatt Mann 19:08.8, 88th-Daniel Rupp 20:07.2, 137th-Jacob Heflin 21:26.3, 157th-Maddox Miller 22:14.0, 198th-Zayden Storm 24:07.3, 211th-Benjamin Rupp 24:52.3
Girls Closed Race
South Adams competed with just four runners Saturday.
Team Scores: 1st-SB St. Joe 86, 2nd-Westview 87, 3rd-Maconaquah 89 (South Adams no team score)
Top Times: 1st-Aftin Griffin-Cass 19:32.2, 2nd-Isabella Frabutt-SB St. Joe 19:49.6
South Adams Times: 13th-Addy Watson 21:13.9, 81st-Ava Kinsey 24:31.2, 109th-Kalle Trausch 25:38.4, 120th-Stella McIntire 26:18.6
