Full 2014 Nemaha Central Cross Country Invitational Results -- click here

The start gun fired off Thursday in Seneca at Spring Creek golf course and multiple area cross country teams and runners were off competing against each other.

After all the runners crossed the finish line it was the Hiawatha Red Hawk girls and Washington County Tiger boys claiming the team titles at the Nemaha Central Invitational.

The lady Red Hawks put together a perfect team score posting a total of 15 points to grab the win as they had their top five runners finish first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. The host, Nemaha Central grabbed second place as a team and Centralia rounded out the top three team finishes, placing third, while Onaga and Washington County took fourth and fifth.

On the boys side Washington County raced their way to a first place team showing with 58 points, while Hiawatha took home second and Nemaha Central nabbed third as a team. The rest of the boys team finishes had Wetmore take fourth, Onaga finish fifth, Axtell place sixth, ACCHS finish seventh and Centralia place eighth.

Hiawatha paced the way on the day with the best individual performances as Jordan Puvogel raced to another first place finish posting a time of 16:36.30 to win by nearly 40 seconds, while Brandt Houk notched a time of 17:53.30 to claim first in the boy’s race by 41 seconds. The Red Hawk girls behind Puvogel notched third place with Molly Kettler (17:10.00), fourth place by Kailey Davis (17:27.20), fifth place by Courtney Brockhoff (17:33.40) and sixth place by Aly Shamburg (17:49.20). Emma Williams and Makenna Gilpin also notched Top 20 showings for the Red Hawks finishing 12th (18:45.20) and 13th (18:52.10). In the boys race Jesse Quinn took home second place behind Houk as Quinn posted a time of 18:34.70 to earn second, while Tom Nolte was the only other Red Hawk boy to finish in the Top 20 placing 19th (20:05.20).

The Washington County Tiger boys raced their way to a first place team finish with Eric Miller leading the way as he finished third behind a time of 18:41.30, while his teammate, Kyle McGatlin placed eighth after posting a time of 19:10.80. Jefferson Simmons, Joe Stegman and Cole Thompson all also finished in the Top 20 for the Tigers finishing 12th (19:21.90), 18th (19:57.70) and 20th (20:11.50), respectively.

For the host Nemaha Central the Thunder nabbed four Top 20 showings in competition with two coming in both the girls and boys races. Mikeal Sperfslage and Colin Lierz paced the way for the Thunder finishing sixth and seventh with times of 18:49.10 and 19:06.50 in the boys competition, while Aidan Schmelzle finished 14th (18:58.20) in the girls race for Nemaha Central and Annie Davis took 18th (19:26.60) place.

The Axtell Eagles came away from the competition on the day with three Top 20 finishers, as freshman Chelsea Smith grabbed the best performance with a second place finish with a time of 17:04.30. While her teammate, Susan Peschel nabbed a 16th place finish with a time of 19:20.00 and Oliver Schmitz picked up a 17th place finish in the boys race behind a time of 19:42.40.

ACCHS Tigers had four Top 20 finishes and three of which were Top 10 finishes on the day as Maddison Forbes and Mackenzie Forbes placed seventh and 10th, respectively with times of 18:05.20 and 18:31.50, while Erin Hamilton notched a 19th place finish (19:32.40) for the Tigers. In the boys competition Jack Siebert had the best Tigers finish racing to a fourth place finish behind a time of 18:42.40.

Onaga, Centralia, Wetmore and Hanover all also had multiple Top 20 finishers on the day. Leading the charge for Onaga was Maggie Revell who raced her way to an eighth place finish with a time of 18:14.20, while her teammate Alexis VanDonge finished 17th (19:26.30). In the boys competition, Michael Eisenbarth had the best Buffalo performance finishing 10th place with a time of 19:18.90, while Luke Marten placed 11th (19:19.60).

Centralia Panthers were led by Sadie Jones who placed ninth in the girls race after posting a time of 18:20.90, while Madison Boeckman notched an 11th place showing (18:34.60) and Dylan Boeckman ran to a 13th place finish in the boys race behind a time of 19:25.00.

For the Wetmore Cardinals, Aaron Achten led the way as he placed fifth with a time of 18:45.10, while Jeremy Hoelscher and Layne Hodge placed 15th and 16th, respectively with times of 19:35.30 and 19:41.80. In the girl’s competition, Elizabeth Hutfles and Corinne Haverkamp both picked up Top 20 finishes on the day finishing 15th (19:04.20) and 20th (19:34.80).

The Hanover Wildcats had one Top 20 finisher on the day and it came in the Top 10 as Michael Jueneman placed ninth with a time of 19:11.70.