GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
First place finishing Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagle MS XC Team pictured front from left includes Mariah Simon and Elyse Hunger; standing: Shianna Bellingham, Lilly Simon, Christina Bellingham, Kara Merkel, and Brittany Pickett.
By Gary Franklin
SPORTS EDITOR
The 11-school Middle School Cross Country Invitational hosted by Jac-Cen-Del on August 28 resulted favorably for the young Eagle athletes. Despite very humid conditions, the runners gave their all.
Girls race
With seven member teams eligible to run and the top five counting toward a team score, the JCD girls finished with top honors, scoring a team count of 35. First place race finisher was Mariah Simon, third place Elyse Hunger, eighth place Shianna Bellingham, 11th place finisher Lilly Simon, and 12th place finisher Christina Bellingham. Rounding out the Lady Eagles team was Kara Merkel and Brittany Pickett. Other team scores included North Decatur second at 73, Madison third at 90, Switzerland County fourth at 111, South Ripley fifth at 122, Jennings County sixth at 130, Southwestern Hanover seventh at 135, and Milan eighth at 166. Other schools competing but fielding less than the required number for a girls race team score included Rising Sun, South Decatur and Madison Shawe.
Boys race
The Jennings County boys team raced to the top in their competition scoring a team count of 36, after finishing first, fourth, eighth, 10th and 13th. The hosting JCD boys captured the second place team finish after fifth-place finishes by Jared Cline, 12th by Kobe Darnold, 23rd by Adrian Peetz, 25th by Blake Feiss, and 30th by Conner Hubbard for a team score of 95. Rounding out the Eagle boy's team was Justin Ohlmansiek and Nathan Laswell. Other team scores included Switzerland County third at 101, South Ripley fourth at 110, Madison Consolidated fifth at 139, South Decatur sixth at 145, Southwestern Hanover seventh at 146, North Decatur eighth at 187, Rising Sun ninth @ 213 and Milan 10th at 231. Madison Shawe also competed but fielded less than the required number for a boys race team score.
South Ripley girls finished fifth, Raider boys fourth
Raider girls finishes included: Megan Cole seventh, Danielle Smith 20th, Clarisse Zigan 25th, Mya Struckman @ 36th, McKenna Bradley 39th, Bayleigh DeWitt at 44th and teammate Lauren McIntosh 45th. The Raider boys fourth place team finish included: Luke Welch sixth, Dylan Trenkamp ninth, Chris Griswold 21st, Jay Cornett 28th, Trey Winters 46th along with teammate Seth Schutte 60th.
Milan Girls finished eighth, Milan boys 10th
Lady Indian finishes included: Riley Cline 17th, Elizabeth Sutherland 27th, Margo Taylor 37th, Cionna Bailey 41st, Abbey Knowlton 50th along with teammates Taryn Cline and Lucy Ortt, rounding out the Lady Indian team. ßThe Milan Indian boys 10th place team finish included: Ethan Honnert 35th, Cameron Hinkle 37th, Talon Gobel 49th, Noah Haessig 51st, Alex Volz 59th along with teammates Carter Wade and Dakota Sams. DNR: Iassac Rosenbarger and Matt Schmitt, Dustin Swigart.