Benjamin Logan’s cross country program opened the season Tuesday by hosting its annual Early Bird Invitational.
The Raider boys finished fifth out of 18 teams and the Lady Raiders were sixth out of 14 teams.
Cedarville, a state qualifier last fall, won the boys meet convincingly with 18 points and claimed five of the top six individual spots. Jonathan Alder was runner-up with 68 points, North Union took third with 138 points, Tecumseh was fourth with 145 points and Ben Logan had 167 points. Triad also competed and was 10th with 315 points.
Jon Alder won the girls meet with 32 points, Cedarville finished second with 96 points and River Valley rounded out the top three with 111 points. Ben Logan had 160 points for its sixth-place effort.
The duo of Blake Rhoades and Tayte Williamson sparked Ben Logan’s boys with top 20 finishes. Rhoades led the team in 18th (20:00.8) and Williamson came in 20th (20:19.0). Tucker Munz finished in 30th (20:47.7) and Andrew Hughes finished in 49th (21:46.2).
Also racing for the Raider boys were Trevor Penwell in 64th (22:52.1), Yale Scheiderer in 72nd (23:19.1), Eli Rhodes in 90th (24:36.9) and Gabe Mooney in 108th (25:23.9).
Dani Widmark highlighted the Lady Raiders with an eighth-place finish out of 122 runners in a time of 23:51.7. Finishing in the top half of the race for Ben Logan were Kerry Copenhaver in 29th (26:54.5), Tori Miller in 39th (27:38.2), Malori Barnes in 46th (28:39.3), Mylee Boysel in 61st (30:07.9) and Kendra Kennedy in 62nd (30:14.3).
Rounding out the Raiders were Allie Fay in 75th (32:14.1), Libby Siefring in 82nd (33:29.0), Cora Watson in 90th (34:41.9), Brooklyn Horner in 93rd (35:01.0), Sarah Folk in 96th (35:48.7), Madelyn Wagnild in 99th (36:23.3) and McKenzee Roseburrough in 111th (37:57.9).
For Triad’s boys, Joe Ferguson was 50th (21:51.5), Tavin Yorgason was 58th (22:13.3), Wyatt Robison was 69th (23:06.5), Zane Robison was 80th (23:54.1), Jacob Haser was 89th (24:36.0), Klinton Driscoll was 98th (24:59.9) and Aaron Roy was 119th (26:48.4).
Ben Logan travels to the Celina Invitational on Saturday, while Triad races in the Logan County meet on Tuesday.
LEFT: Benjamin Logan’s Blake Rhoades, left, and Tayte Williamson compete in the Early Bird Invitational Tuesday at Benjamin Logan High School. RIGHT: Benjamin Logan’s Kerry Copenhaver heads down a hill during the girls race. (EXAMINER PHOTO | Aaron LaBatt)
