BUCYRUS — On Saturday, September 2, over 400 area high school cross country runners traveled to Bucyrus to compete in the annual Elks High School Cross Country Invitational.
On the boys side of the race, 253 runners would cross the finish with the first of them being individual winner Jacob Poling of Elgin in a time of 16:56.86. The team championship would go to the squad representing the Willard Crimson Flashes as they posted a team score of 62.
Rounding out the field for the boys on the day were: 2. Olmstead Falls; 3. NORTHMOR- 124 points; 4. Elyria Catholic; 5. Upper Sandusky; 6. Buckeye Valley; 7. Highland; 8. Wynford; 9. St. Paul; 10. Elgin; 11. Bucyrus; 12. COLONEL CRAWFORD- 291 points; 13. Pleasant; 14. Mohawk; 15. Hardin Northern; 16. Buckeye Central; 17. Calvert and 18. River Valley.
Northmor would have six runners place within the top-50 finishers on the day en route to their collective third place finish. Leading the way for the Golden Knights was Gavvin Keen. Keen ran his way to sixth place overall, crossing the line in 17:28.96.
Joining Keen in the top-50 were Mostyn Evans, Ryan Bentley, Amil Upchurch, Kooper Keen and Chase Hoover.
Evans and Bentley snagged 22nd and 23rd on the day with times of 18:16.76 and 18:17.69, respectively. Upchurch clocked in with a time of 18:56.46 while K. Keen earned 42nd by finishing the 5k in 19:07.67. Rounding out the top finishers for Northmor was Hooper who took home 45th in a final time of 19:14.59.
Also in action on the day for the Golden Knights were: 59. BJ White; 87. Alec Moore; 98. Austin Amens; 102. Kyle Price; 114. TJ Diehl; 168. Zach Govoni; 173. Jack Sears; 193. Austin Lewis; 197; PJ Lower; 203. Anthony Bryant; 208. Dylan Amens; 209. Kolton Hart; 210; Jayden McClain; 211. Ethan Branch and 214. Josh Cramer.
Colonel Crawford’s highest finisher on the day would be Braxton James. James crossed the finish line with a time of 18:52.76, good for 34th.
The Eagles would have two other competitors finish within the top-50 of the field in the likes of Alex Mutchler and Alex Lawson.
Mutchler and Lawson finished right behind one another to earn 39th and 40th place, respectively. Mutcher turned in a time of 19:01.29 while Lawson completed his race in 19:02.79.
Other runners on Saturday for Crawford were: 109. Zach Leonhart; 111. Carson James; 151. Brandon Bauer; 166. Luke Lawson; 212. Brock Nolen and 251. Caleb Christman.
Joining the Knights, the Eagles and others were the three boys runners on the Crestline Bulldogs roster. Dan Kiser was the top runner for Crestline on the day, earning 108th in a time of 20:36.40. Ben Sharp crossed the finish line in 24:44.94 (223rd) and Lucas Cochrun wrapped his race in 27:48.01 (244th).
On the girls side of the invitational, it would be Chloe Dawson of Buckeye Valley taking home the individual championship with the top time of 20:01.01. Dawson’s Buckeye Valley squad also far and away surpassed the other teams in the field, picking up 25 points to take home the team title.
The girls event had 161 total finishers and saw 12 teams in contention for the title. Rounding out the field after the Lady Barons were: 2. Olmstead Falls; 3. St. Paul; 4. Upper Sandusky; 5. COLONEL CRAWFORD- 160 points; 6. NORTHMOR- 165 points; 7. Highland; 8. Willard; 9. Mohawk; 10. Wynford; 11. Buckeye Central and 12. Elyria Catholic.
Both the Lady Eagles and Lady Golden Knights would have four runners each finish within the top-50 spots in the field on Saturday.
For Colonel Crawford, their top finish came from Ally Hocker, taking 15th overall with a time of 21:59.27.
Joining Hocker in the top-50 on the day was teammates Alison Manko, Katie Hopkins and Katie Hanft.
Manko concluded the race with a time of 23:17.00, good for 33rd while Hopkins snagged a 35th place finish in a time of 23:20.91. Wrapping the top finishers for the Eagles was Hanft, running to a 48th place finish in 24:00.27.
Other Lady Eagles in the field were: 66. Courtney Lyons; 67. Sheba Sulser; 82. Abby Hocker; 83. Theresa Dzugan; 127. Cassidy Vogt and 136. Alivia Payne.
Northmor’s Julia Kanagy earned her team’s top finish on the day, picking up points in 21st place with a time of 22:30.42.
Julianna DiTullio finished her race in 22:38.45 to snag 24th place while teammates Sabrina Kelley (23:24.59) and Olivia Goodson (24:01.13) grabbed 26th and 49th, respectively.
Other Lady Knights running against the elements on Saturday were: 73. Kristie Wright; 74. Carolyn McGaulley and 129. Bailey Snyder.
The lone runner for the Crestline Lady Bulldogs, Caitlin Harley, was also in the field of 161 girls in Bucyrus and took home 52nd place with a finishing mark of 24:06.67.
