VINCENT - The Warren High School boys cross country team finished with 62 points to edge Fort Frye (72) and Belpre (72) for the Scenic Hills Lions Invitational crown here Saturday.
Warrior Parker Blain paced the hosts with a time of 17 minutes and 35 seconds to finish third overall. Kyle Conley took sixth with an effort of 17 minutes and 47 seconds while fellow Warrior Brent Ash was 12th after clocking in at 18:22.
Fort Frye's Jordan Anderson and Belpre's Cray Sistrunk finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as Anderson finished in 17:44, just two ticks ahead of the Golden Eagle. Cadets Ford McElroy (8th, 18:09) and Matthew Chesseman (9th, 18:17) also cracked the top 12 while James Haught of Magnolia finished 10th after posting an 18:19.
The best overall local finisher was Waterford's Eli Strahler, who took runner-up honors with his time of 17:25. However, no one was close to Southern High School overall champion Kody Wolfe's time of 16:44. Eastern's top placer was Tyson Long (24th, 19:57). Athens, which had three runners in the top six and was led by winner Emily Cass (20:30), wasn't challenged in the race for the girls title as the Bulldogs won by amassing just 22 points. Fort Frye scored 69 to edge the host Warriors (75) for second place.
Eastern's Taylor Palmer clocked in eight ticks behind Cass and had to settle for second. Eagle teammate Keri Lawrence finished eighth after coming in seven seconds below 22 minutes.
Warren was led by the fifth place showing of Hannah Dugan (21:27) and Magnolia's top finisher was Christa Harshberger, who took seventh with a time of 21:52.
Fact Box
Scenic Hills Lions Invitational
Boys team scores: Warren 62, Fort Frye 72, Belpre 72, Athens 96, Meadowbrook 118, Southern 139, River 149, Magnolia 164
Warren finishers: 3. Parker Blain 17:35; 6. Kyle Conley 17:47; 12. Brent Ash 18:22; 22. Sam Goodman 19:26; 25. Billy Howell 19:58; 32. Chris Truax 20:33; 33. Zach Barnes 20:39; 38. Matthew Neehouse 20:56; 45. Joel Estes 21:27; 63. Luke Drayer 24:03; 64. Andrew Gaughan 24:12; 66. Nick Starner 24:29; 69. Mason Pilkey 25:47
Fort Frye finishers: 4. Jordan Anderson 17:44; 8. Ford McElroy 18:09; 9. Matthew Cheeseman 18:17; 28. Jon Anderson 20:09; 31. Matthew Roush 20:24; 41. Quintin Webb 21:06
Belpre finishers: 5. Cray Sistrunk 17:46; 11. Kyle Windland 18:20; 17. Kennley Wolfe 18:43; 19. Matthew Davis 18:59; 26. Matthew Lopreste 20:00; 50. Joel Starner 22:18
Magnolia finishers: 10. James Haught 18:19; 29. David McIlvain 20:12; 44. Jacob Pancake 21:13; 54. Kenny Headley 22:37; 55. Oscar Celedon 22:37; 58. Mikal Raber 23:13; 65. Kyle Lancaster 24:19
Eastern finishers: 24. Tyson Long 19:57; 49. Brock Smith 22:09; 53. Johann Wolfe 22:35
Waterford finishers: 2. Eli Strahler 17:25; 30. Jacob McCutcheon 20:16; 56. Lee Wittekind 22:56
Girls team scores: Athens 22, Fort Frye 69, Warren 75, East Fairmont 97, Magnolia 101, River 180
Fort Frye finishers: 9. Natalie Hart 22:00; 16. Hannah Willey 23:09; 22. Phoebe Thompson 23:57; 26. Tina Ward 24:30; 32. Alex Medina 24:54
Warren finishers: 5. Hannah Dugan 21:27; 21. Sydney Brague 23:48; 23. Christin Howell 24:01; 33. Alyssa Kern 24:56; 35. Lana Sydenstrecker 25:08; 43. Maggie McCutcheon 27:23; 44. Kristen Gray 27:23; 45. Amber Ullman 27:43; 73. Meryle Hadlock 38:13; 75. Lauren Cunningham 39:42
Magnolia finishers: 7. Christa Harshberger 21:52; 24. Bri Ritz 24:18; 34. Sofia Herrick 25:03; 49. Rachel Arbogast 28:24; 53. Shelby Sands 28:46; 55. Katie Ensinger 29:10; 56. Ariel Hostuttler 29:11; 66. Emily McIlvain 31:55; 68. Julianne McIlvain 33:13
Eastern finishers: 2. Taylor Palmer 20:38; 8. Keri Lawrence 21:53; 19. Savannah Hawley 23:25
Belpre finishers: 20. Emma Williams 23:36; 37. Mackenzie Rice 25:22; 41. Ashley Carter 27:07; 67. Kelsey Blair 33:06
Waterford finishers: 25. Emma Tornes 24:27; 57. Shanaine Huck 29:36; 70. Marissa Melem 34:33
Natalie Hart of Fort Frye finished in 22 minutes flat, which was good for ninth place. Cadet Hannah Willey (16th, 23:09) and Belpre's Emma Williams (20th, 23:36) were the only other runners to crack the top 20.
