GIRLS XC

CULVER INVITE

Western placed 11th out of 22 teams with a 282 in the Open Division.

Natalie Nicholson ran to a 22nd-place finish for the Panthers in 21:11. Reagan Ritchie was 45th at 21:42, Taylor Walden 73rd (22:20), Emma Marley 78th (22:26), Erin Knepley 82nd (22:33) and Bronwyn Getts 85th (22:41). Nicholson, Ritchie and Getts all ran for PR’s.

“We definitely didn’t hit our goals as far as team scores but had some good things with three runners getting those personal bests,” Western coach Joni McCracken said. “This is our regional course so we’ve got some things to look at and work on and we’ll be looking forward to being back up here for regionals."

Kokomo finished 20th in the Open Division with a score of 581. Cinnamon Andrews ran to a 58th-place finish in 21:58, while Breanna Roberts finished in 103rd place with a time of 23:08.

“Our young ladies ran with tired and achy legs for this race,” Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said. “We had our toughest week of practice yet, and I knew that they were going to have to show some mental toughness to run good times. Cinnamon and Breanna really showed a lot of grit pushing through this race. We are going to have to run much better from our numbers three though seven to finish where we would like to over the next two weeks.”

Sylvania Northview of Ohio had the top team score in the Open Division with an 89, while Twin Lakes’ Maggie Gutwein had the top individual finish in 19:24.

In the small school Closed Division, Eastern’s Molly Hapner was 62nd in 23:45. Sydnie Hill was 81st (24:38) and Catie White was 139th (30:40). Eastern was incomplete as a team.

Manchester finished first as a team with 63 points and also had the top individual finish with Rae Bedke running a 20:29.