Lancer boys 1st, girls 2nd at Elida meet

Van Wert independent sports

ELIDA — The Lincolnview Lancer cross country teams competed in the Elida Invitational on Tuesday night. The boys easily won the meet for the fourth consecutive year, scoring only 26 points and placing their top five runners in the top 15.

The Lancers were led by Karter Tow, second (17:12); Austin Elick third (17:22); Jacob Keysor, fourth (17:29); Tracey West, sixth (17:52); and Joe Sadowski, 11th (18:38). Rounding out the top seven runners were Devon Bill, 13th; and Ryan Rager, 22nd.

“This was a good bounce-back meet for the boys,” said Lincolnview Head Coach Matt Langdon. “We did not run to our full potential last weekend at Tiffin and it was good to see the boys respond so quickly.

“I was really proud of how they fought and attacked the course,” Coach Langdon added. “This was a big step forward for us.”

The Lincolnview girls’ team placed second, only two points from winning the meet. They were led by Rylee Byrne, third (22:10); Alena Looser, fourth (22:19); Tori Snyder, fifth (22:28); Madeline Snyder, 13th (23:06); and Miah Katalenas, 32nd (25:59). Rounding out the top seven were Ryanne Ducheney (38th), and Kaylee Hobbs (39th).

“The girls showed a lot of heart tonight,” said Coach Langdon. “We are missing two of our top girls, and nursing injuries with two others, but the girls fought hard tonight and really wanted to win the meet.

“Despite falling just a few points short, we ran as well as we could have as a team and I was excited to see them fighting so hard,” he added. “This will pay off down the road if we can get some of our girls healthy again.”