Sigourney, English Valleys produce quality finishes at XC Invitational

Teams from around the region came to run at the English Valleys Cross Country Invitational in North English on Tuesday, Sept. 12.  The Sigourney boys and E.V. girls both posted finishes in the top five of their respective races.

The race was difficult for those in attendance, having to fight the heat while running up large hills throughout the course. The goal was focused more on endurance running, compared to other races focusing on time.

The varsity girls got things started with E.V. finishing with a fifth-place team score. All five girls finished near the top half of the 61 total runners. The first girl to cross was Brooke Coffman in 15th place, with a time of 25:48.51. A gap separated her from Clara Mews, who ended up in 24th place, with a time of 27:11.79.

Megan Glandon (27:41.18) finished in 28th, Liberty Lightfoot (27:51.19) finished in 31st and Isabel Schneider rounded out E.V. in 40th with a time of 28:30.85.

"I'm super pleased with how our girls ran today," said E.V. coach Breann Coffman. "I think we had an advantage with it being our home-course. They knew how to beat the hills, which was the most difficult aspect of the course."

Sigourney also ran, but didn't have enough girls to be awarded a score. The top two finishes were by Lainey Graff in 23rd with a time of 27:09.25 and Summer Barthelman in 29th with a time of 27:43.22.

On the boys side, the Savages continued to see success, finishing in fourth place with 96 team points. Three Savages finished in the top 20 of 71 runners. Mason Moore led the charge, finishing in 10th with a time of 19:35.38. Shortly behind him was Tristan Bell in 13th place, with a time of 19:57.91. Paul Montgomery rounded out the three with a 16th place finish, running a time of 20:24.03.

Dawson Webster (21:30.47) finished in 27th place, Jake Ives (23:01.31) finished in 38th, Trace Bell (23:12.81) finished in 42nd and Ben House (24:07.00) rounded out the group, finishing in 53rd.

"I was happy with the way they competed today," said Savage coach Andy Harter. "We wanted to get in top three today. We knew it would be a hard race because Tipton would be here, and they're a top-rated team in 2A."

English Valleys had a handful of boys run, but not enough to receive an official team score. Charlie Axmear finished first for the Bears, in 25th place with a time of 21:14.69. Next to cross was Jacob Glandon, finishing in 32nd with a time of 21:55.06.

Tanner Mihal (23:46.43) finished in 51st with and Coffman was right behind him in 52nd, with a time of 23:49.59.

Sigourney got a few days rest before their next meet at BGM on Monday, Sept. 18. E.V. had a quicker turnaround, running at the Diamond Trail course in Pella on Thursday, Sept. 14.