Mt. Vernon’s Ahmed Saleh, shown here at the Mt. Vernon Invitational/Hancock County Meet, led the way to the Marauders victory in the Terry Lakes Elite Boys Varsity Cross Country Race in Marion at Indiana Wesleyan Saturday.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
Ranked No. 11 in the latest Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll, the Mt. Vernon boys cross country team lived up to its rating with a victory in the Terry Lakes Elite Boys Varsity Race, part of Saturday’s Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University.
Mt. Vernon scored 78 points, No. 20 Warsaw was second with 82 and No. 14 Franklin Central placed third with 89.
All seven of Mt. Vernon’s varsity runners finished the 5K course in under 17 minutes.
Ahmed Saleh led the Marauders with a third-place finish with a time of 15:39.8. Westview’s Noah Bontrager won the event in 14:59.3.
Following Saleh for Mt. Vernon, Caden Cassada and Xaiden Jenson were neck and neck before Cassada grabbed the 12th position in 16:00.20. Jenson was 14th in 16:00.80.
Brayden Strantz was Mt. Vernon’s No. 4 runner. He finished 21st in 16:19.11. Landon Willis followed by placing 33rd in 16:29.5. Austin Baugh was 37th in 16:33.5 and Matthew Cousar crossed the finish line in 52nd with a time of 16:51.7.
There were 16 teams in the race.
Dragons are runners-up
New Palestine’s boys cross country team finished runner-up in the Purple Race at Saturday’s Marion Invitational held at Indiana Wesleyan University.
West Noble edged the Dragons for the top spot with 76 points. New Palestine had 77 and Fort Wayne Dwenger placed third with 87.
West Noble’s Graysen Rush won the 5K race in 16:40.5.
The Dragons had a pair of top 10 finishers. Jacob Cooper was fifth in 17:04.6. Gavin Smith placed eighth in 17:22.90.
Two more New Palestine runners earned top 20 spots. Mike Bauer was 12th in 17:32.60 and Carson Cooper finished 17th in 17:38.71.
Hayden Flanagan and Zion Koch finished back-to-back in 36th and 37th. Flanagan had a time of 18:31.80. Koch clocked in at 18:32.50.
Gabe Silvey finished 40th in 18:39.90.
Markley takes individual honors
Eastern Hancock senior Preston Markley won Saturday’s Union City Invitational.
Markley won the 5K boys cross country race in 17:01.43.
The Royals finished third in the team standings with 96 points, one better than fourth-place Randolph Southern. Rushville won with 34 and Northeastern was second with 69.
Eastern Hancock’s Andrew Metz earned and eighth-place finish with a time of 18:51.39. Caden Powers was 14th in 19:38.66. Davis Decker followed in 39th at 22:00.41. Jud West was 42nd in 22:27.15.
Cougars finish ninth
Greenfield-Central’s boys cross country team finished ninth in the AA race at the Rick Weinheimer Classic, hosted by Columbus North High School Saturday.
No. 1 ranked Noblesville won the race with 46 points. No. 6 Columbus North placed second with 63. No. 3 Bloomington North was third with 80. No. 8 Evansville Reitz scored 97. G-C scored 254.
Braylon Mumaugh led Greenfield-Central with a 45th-place finish with a 5K time of 16:29. Henry Rahe was 49th in 16:33 and David Wasson was right behind in 50th, clocking in at 16:34.
Bryce Cotterman earned a 66th-place finish in 16:54. He was one spot ahead of Peter Hummel in 67th with a time of 16:55.
John Wait was next in line for G-C with a 76th-place finish in 17:06. Otto Sickels rounded out the Cougars top seven with a 98th-place race in 17:36.
Girls cross country
Johnson wins invitational
One of only two Eastern Hancock runners competing in the event, sophomore Sydney Johnson won the Union City Girls Cross Country Invitational Saturday.
One of 28 runners in the event, Johnson won with a time of 21:00.47.
Seton Catholic won the team event with 32 points. Rushville had 41 and Northeastern 48.
Dragons tie for 2nd in Purple Race
New Palestine’s girls cross country team finished second in the Purple Race at Saturday’s Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University.
West Noble won with 58 points. The Dragons tied for second with Concord with 70 points.
Abby Journay led New Palestine runners with a ninth-place finish and time of 21:34.9 in the 5K race.
Addison Uhl and Taylor Burke were right behind her, placing 10th and 11th, respectively. Uhl finished in 21:46.10 and Burke had a time of 21:55.6.
Taylor Stone placed 23rd in 22:28.8. Evelyn Kell came in 26th in 22:40.1. Heidi Bloomer crossed the finish line 32nd in 22:55.1 and Olivia Weaver was 34th in 22:59.9.
Marauders compete in Elite Race
Mt. Vernon’s girls cross country team, competing in the Schlemmer Elite Varsity Girls Race in the Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University placed 14th of 16 teams.
No. 3 Homestead won with 51 points. No.2 Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran finished second with 54. No. 6 Franklin Central was third with 95. No. 11 Westfield placed fourth with 116 points. No. 24 Pendleton Heights had 157. The Marauders scored 390.
Mt. Vernon had six runners in the race. Chesnie Willis was the top finisher in 75th with a time of 21:06.5. Lillian Quinn was 84th in 21:21.5. Emma Gale placed 100th in 22:00.3. Brooklyn Harris followed in 109th with a time of 22:29.3. Mikella Rentfrow was 111th in 22:42 and Galyn Moore placed 119th in 23:08.6.
G-C places 8th in Columbus
Greenfield-Central’s girls cross country team finished ninth of 21 teams in AA race at the Rick Weinheimer Classic hosted by Columbus North High School Saturday.
No. 7 Columbus North won the team event with a total of 51. No. 8 Noblesville followed with 64. Milford (Ohio) was third with 107. Greenfield-Central scored 266.
Josie Kinnaman led the Cougars with a 15th-place finish and time of 18:57 for the 5K race. Adalyn Cole was 37th in 20:04. Lexie Copeland crossed the line in 57th with a time of 21:02. Not far behind was Kendall Barrett with a time of 21:19, good enough for 66th spot.
Taylor Cooksey placed 91st in 22:08. Harper Rahe was 100th in 22:34 and Addison Gordon finished 114th in 23:20.
Girls golf
Dragons win Connersville Invite, Marauders tie for 3rd
New Palestine’s girls golf team won the Connersville Invitational held at Arbor Crossing Golf Course Saturday.
New Palestine scored 357. Noblesville was second with a 369. Both Mt. Vernon and Joliet (Ill.) Central scored 373.
Katie Kelley led the Dragons by finishing second with a round of 81. New Pal’s Lauren Deering and Mt. Vernon’s Izzy VanHeel tied for 4th with 86s.
New Palestine’s Lily Kirchner was sixth with an 88.
Janie Hamilton and Matti Tiede-White scored 102 and 104, respectively, for the Dragons.
Following VanHeel for Mt. Vernon, Kylie Hyde scored 93, Marissa Miner had a 94 and Natalie Miner finished with a 100.
Girls soccer
Dragons win HHC match at Shelbyville
New Palestine’s girls soccer team improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference with a 7-0 victory over Shelbyville (4-4, 1-2).
The Dragons scored five first-half goals.
Tylar Whitaker had three goals and an assist. Gabrielle Brown had two goals and two assists. Abby Lambdin had a goal and an assist and Shaylee Frank had a goal.
Girls volleyball
Cougars go 1-2 at Shondell
Greenfield-Central’s girls volleyball team won one of three matches at Saturday’s 9th Annual Shondell Family Invitational at Muncie Burris Lab School.
The Cougars (9-4) lost 2-0 to undefeated Southwood (10-0) by set scores of 25-17, 25-14.
They defeated Fort Wayne South (0-5) 2-0 by scores of 25-9, 25-11 and lost a tough three-setter to host Burris (12-1) 25-13, 25-27, 15-9.
