VWMS girls 1st, boys 2nd at O-G meet

VWMS cross country news

OTTAWA — Saturday’s cool conditions was a good omen for the Van Wert Middle School cross country teams at the Ottawa-Glandorf Blue/Gold Cross Country Invitational, with the boys’ and girls’ teams recording 29 season-best times.

In the overall team standings, the Lady Cougars were meet champions out of 13 teams and the boys were second out of 17 participating schools.

Leading the Cougars with top 10 finishes were Cassidy Meyers in 12:47 (fourth and Sierra Shaffer in 13:16 (eighth).  Julia Springer (18th), Nicole Clay (37th), and Erienne Cassidy (39th) were the next Cougar finishers across the line.  Rounding out the scorers were Emma Rutkowski (49th) and Risa Pollock (56th).

Other Cougars competing were Kylee Bagley (65th), Kathryn Wray (92nd), Chloe Boroff (96th), Kaileigh Gentry (101st), Michaella Johnson (115th), Hannah Kraner (124th), Nykee Billingham (125th), Victoria Etzler (127th), Allison Hauter (130th), and Courtney Sanderson (135th).

On the boys’ side, Thane Cowan was the top Cougar harrier with a fifth place finish in 11:31.  Blake Henry led the Cougar pack with an 11th place finish, followed by Stephen Hamblett (18th), Max Sealscott (21st), and Michael Etter (29th).  Kyle Spray (61st) and Korey Oechsle (70th) rounded out the scorers.  Also running for the Van Wert squad were Gage Chiles (80th), Zac Tomlinson (98th), Anthony Borack (104th), Noah Carter (146th), Brayden Cox (155th), Noah Brubaker (156th), David Maurer (163rd), and Noah Arend (174th).