Fairgrounds hosts cross country invite

VW independent sports/submitted information

The Lincolnview Lancer cross country teams hosted the first annual Lancer Grandstand Cross Country Invitational at the Van Wert County Fairgrounds on Monday.

The event included Van Wert, Columbus Grove, Elida, and Kalida. The evening started with a 100 meter mad dash for first grade and below, then a 1000 meter fun run for 2nd-6th graders. The next race of the evening was a junior high 2-mile race with boys and girls running in the same race competing for a combined team championship. The boys’ winner was Conlan Hatfield of Lincolnview and the girls’ winner was Symphony Shuerman from Van Wert. Van Wert won the combined team championship scoring just 15 points.

The premier race of the evening was the high school combined boys and girls 2-mile race. The top three finishers for the boys were Kreston Tow of Lincolnview (10:09), Conner Baldauf of Lincolnview (10:11.5), and Luke Ellerbrock of Columbus Grove (10:11.6), while the top 3 for the girls were Andrea Bugei of Kalida (12:23), Sarah Kamphaus of Columbus Grove (12:33), and Keira Breese of Lincolnview (12:37). Lincolnview took home the first ever team trophy by scoring just 27 combined points.

“This was an incredible event not only for our athletes, but for the fans that came out to support local cross country runners,” Linconlview head coach Matt Langdon said. “We are grateful for the partnership with the Van Wert County Fair Board and specifically Mike Poling for helping us make this meet a success. We are excited about next year already and are making plans to add more teams, vendors, and races.”