A record number of runners participated in the WUHS Invitational on Tuesday night with many area runners in both the junior high and high school levels posting strong times.
For the varsity boys, Manchester had a strong showing with juniors Jamie Combs and Rickey Deatley finishing third and seventh respectively while fellow juniors Austin Stamper finished 19th and Brendon Kessler finished 21st. Junior Blake Rigdon of Eastern High School finished first individually with a time of 17:42.
West Union sophomore Adam Fulton also had a strong finish for the Dragons as he finished eighth while senior Zach Behr was the top finisher for Peebles, coming in 18th. Junior Jessi Hall was the top runner for North Adams, finishing 37th.
Adams County was well represented for the varsity girls race as Manchester finished first out of seven teams while West Union finished second.
West Union seniors Ashley Hackworth and Medigan Marshall finished one-two for the Dragons with Hackworth finishing with a time of 21:07, but it was the Greyhounds who had a more consistent group as juniors Shayanne Tucker finished third, Billie Jean Kinhalt finished sixth, Amanda Farthing finished 10th, Kelsey Friend finished 11th, Xena Crummie was 12th, Lydia Lopez finished 21st and Alexus Barlow came in 28th.
In the junior high boys race, Manchester was near the top again as Dalton Williams came in third with the top score from Adams County. Damon Baker from North Adams and Levi Carter came in sixth and seventh respectively while Trenton McCann and Colt Parker also finished 18th and 19th for the Green Devils and Dragons as well.
Seventh-grader Ina Wiles of Eastern finished first individually in the race finishing with a time of 12:03.
As a team, the West Union junior high boys came in third behind Eastern and Fairfield while North Adams finished sixth, Manchester seventh and Peebles eighth.
Peebles had a strong individual performance out of Alisan Behr in the junior high girl’s race as the eighth grader came in fourth. Megan Stamm of Manchester was the next area finisher as she came in eighth while her teammate Tori Barlow finished out the top 10. Alyssa Mays for North Adams along with Katie Fulton and Kendra Grooms of West Union finished 11th, 12th and 14th respectively.
Eighth-grader Ciera Colwell of Fairfield was the top individual finisher for the girls finishing with a time of 13:36.
Manchester and North Adams were the only area teams eligible or a team finish for the junior high girl’s race and the Greyhounds finished fourth while the Green Devils were right behind in fifth place.
Reach Charles Grove at 937-544-2391 or cgrove@civitasmedia.com.
