VW boys 3rd at Tiffin; girls finish 9th

Van Wert cross country news

TIFFIN — The Van Wert High School cross country teams competed capped off a great day of racing with solid finishes at the Tiffin Cross Country Invitational.  The boys team had a strong showing with their third place finish, while the girls brought home a ninth place finish in what appeared to be a mid-season state meet of sorts.

Despite the ninth place finish, Van Wert Head Coach Brendon Moody stated: “Our girls continue to improve week in and week out and, unfortunately, our best effort today was bettered by that of eight other quality teams.”

Leading the way for the girl harriers was Chloee Gamble in 29th place with a time of 20:01. Seniors Amanda Clay (42nd) and Andi Foster (65th) were the next Cougar finishers (20:26 and 20:59, respectively).  Rounding out the scorers were Megan Barnhart in 80th (21:12) and Schealissa Williams in 92nd (21:29).  Other varsity finishers were Whitney Meyers (125th, 22:13) and Natalie Riethman (129th, 22:18),

Connor Holliday was the lead Van Wert boy to cross the line in eighth place, stopping the clock in 16:35. Following closely behind Holliday was the junior trio of Connor Shaffer, Jordan Butler and Daniel Perry, finishing in 27th, 32nd, and 35th places (17:17, 17:24, and 17:35, respectively).

Rounding out the Cougar scoring was sophomore Cade Fleming in 57th (17:41). Senior Eric Easley (82nd,17:56) and junior Ryan Rice (98th, 18:04) finalized the varsity squad.

“The boys team ran a great team race today.” said Coach Moody.  “ When all the pieces to our puzzle are put together, we can be a very good team.  This team is trying to find their identity after the loss of our top two guys from last year“

In the open races, Alicia Danylchuck was the top Cougar runner, finishing in 49th place, while the brother duo of Nick and Ryan Keber put two Van Wert boys in the top six, finishing second and sixth overall.