2014 Washington County Cross Country Invite Full Results – click here

Multiple Twin Valley League teams and Nemaha Central, along with a few non-area teams took to the course at Cedar Hills in Washington at the Washington County Invitational for cross country action on Thursday afternoon.

At the end of the day it was the host Washington County Tiger boys’ team claiming first place and the Nemaha Central Thunder girl’s squad notching first place team performance.

The Tiger boys’ team posted 47 points to claim first place by six points, besting Wakefield who finished second place as a team, while Nemaha Central boys rounded out the top three taking third. Valley Heights and Onaga were the other two schools to compete as teams and finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the boys competition.

On the girls side it was Nemaha Central notching 47 points to grab the win, beating out Wakefield by 12 points, as Wakefield finished second. Pike Valley took home third place as a team, while Washington County and Frankfort also competed as teams placing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Individually the best area performance came at the hands one of the best 2A runners in the State, Washington County senior, Dylan Hodgson took home first place posting a time of 16:14.55 and winning by nearly two minutes. Three of his fellow Tigers, also finished in the Top 20 helping Washington County to their first place team finish, as Eric Miller and Kyle McGatlin finished sixth and seventh, respectively with times of 18:27.67 and 18:29.73, while Jefferson Simmons finished 18th (19:39.62).

Six other area schools had Top 20 finishers in the boys competition at the Washington County Invitational. Valley Heights Mustang, Adrian Pishney took home second place on the day with a time of 18:03.31, while his teammate Max Blaske finished 17th (19:36.97) and Alex Hardin took home 20th place (19:44.87).

Nemaha Central, Onaga and Axtell each had two Top 20 finishers in the boy’s competition. For the Thunder Mikeal Sperfslage led the way finishing fourth behind a time of 18:26.13, while Colin Lierz took 10th with a time of 18:46.45. Onaga was led by a third place showing by Michael Eisenbarth who posted a time of 18:13.22, while his teammate, Luke Marten placed 14th (19:04.97). Axtell Eagles, Burke Deters and Oliver Schmitz both registered Top 20 finishes, finishing 13th and 15th, respectively with times of 18:56.82 and 19:18.30.

Centralia and Hanover each also had a Top 20 boys competitor, as Dylan Boeckman finished 16th (19:24.26) for the Panthers and Michael Jueneman placed 12th (18:55.79) for Hanover.

On the girls side, Nemaha Central worked their way to first place behind four Top 20 finishers on the day with Annie Davis leading the charge with her 10th place finish with a time of 18:31.17. The trio of Aidan Schmelzle, Abbey Buessing and Janie Bramhall finished 12th, 17th and 20th for the Thunder after posting times of 18:40.64, 19:23.35 and 19:59.86, respectively.

The top area performance came from Axtell in the girl’s competition at the Washington County Invitational as Chelse Smith finished third behind a time of 16:16.16, finishing behind a pair of Pike Valley runners. Smith's teammate, Susan Peschel gave Axtell another Top 20 finisher, as she finished 13th (18:42.40). 

Centralia, Onaga and Washington County each had multiple Top 20 finishers in the girl’s competition. For the Panthers, Sadie Jones took home fourth place behind a time of 16:49.72, while Madison Boeckman placed 11th (18:35.36). Onaga Buffaloes, Maggie Revell and Alexis VanDonge both finished in the Top 10 placing sixth and eighth with times of 17:24.38 and 17:52.70. Washington County girls were led on the day by Madison Stone and Cheyanne Helms who finished 14th (18:52.23) and 16th (19:14.44), respectively.

Valley Heights Mustang, Ilexus Rose finished ninth on the day with a time of 18:10.61 and Clifton-Clyde also had a Top 20 finisher on the day as Abby Sikes finished 19th (19:49.45).

Frankfort and Troy also competed on the day but did not have any Top 20 finishers in the competition.