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Boys: Pioneer’s Dodt 3rd, Winamac’s Fredel 5th, both break 17 minutes
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester girls cross-country team fielded a complete team for the first time this season at the Maconaquah Invitational Saturday. They finished in eighth place. From left – Emah Bradley, Brooklyn Chandler, Allyson Calloway, Adison Hayes. Not pictured: Kadence Bradley.
BUNKER HILL — There were not ideal running conditions at the Maconaquah Invitational cross-country meet Saturday.
In fact, the scorching, upper 80s heat and inescapable humidity might have been the opposite of ideal.
But it did allow one to dream how good the Hoosier North showdown between Pioneer’s Leighton Dodt and Winamac’s Logan Fredel will be when the weather gets colder and the stakes get higher.
One week after winning the Caston Invitational, Dodt took third out of 138 runners at Maconaquah in 16:47. Fredel closed the gap by running a 16:53 and finishing fifth.
Meanwhile, Winamac finished sixth out of 13 teams, and Pioneer took 10th. Rochester had an incomplete team.
In the girls meet, Rochester’s Allyson Calloway was the fastest local runner, taking 10th place in a field of 104 runners in 21:10. In addition, Rochester fielded a complete team for the first time this season and finished eighth out of 10 teams with 181 points.
The top area team was Winamac, who was fourth with 116 points. Pioneer was ninth with 207.
The Maconaquah girls won with 43 points. The Western boys with 76 points.
Individual champions included Lewis Cass’ Aftin Griffin in the girls race in 19:09 and Western’s Camden Raab in the boys race in 16:16.
Girls
Kadence Hoover, Avery Wegner and Kandace Kroft all finished in the top 25 and earned medals. Hoover, a senior, was 12th in 21:30. Wegner, a junior, was 18th in 22:23. Kroft, a junior, was 24th in 23:38.
Other Winamac scoring runners included senior Claire Goodman, who was 28th in 23:57, and junior Madelyn Goodman, who was 52nd in 25:58.
Calloway’s time was 13 seconds slower than her Caston Invitational time from Sept. 7, when she set a personal best. The race might have been an early preview of the Three Rivers Conference meet as the nine runners that finished ahead of her are also in the conference.
“It was nice,” Rochester coach Alex Gudeman said of having a full girls team. “It’s a good starting point. We’re just going to try to keep building from here, but that’s one landmark down.”
In addition to Calloway, the three-person pack of Brooklyn Chandler, Kadence Bradley and Adison Hayes finished 39th, 42nd and 43rd, respectively. Chandler ran a 24:48, Bradley was timed in 25:14.3 and Hayes ran a personal-best 25:14. Emah Bradley was 97th in 36:37.
Pioneer sophomore Ellie Hines was her school’s frontrunner for the first time this year in 24:20, which netted her 34th place. Avery Haselby was 36th in 24:34, Kylie Jamerson was 37th in 24:38, Laylynn Malchow was 75th in 29:09, and Allison Martinez-Domingo was 88th in 32:47 to finish out the list of scoring runners.
Boys
The only runners to beat Fredel were Raab, Lewis Cass’ Ben Jay, Dodt and Western’s Miles Rudy. Teammates Dylan Guilford (17:55, 17th place), a senior, and Nathan Pierzchalski (17:59, 21st place), a junior, also earned medals with Fredel.
The other Winamac scoring runners included freshman Kannon Hoover, who was 67th in 20:06, and sophomore Joel Showley, who was 81st in 20:56.
Dodt’s sophomore teammate Dane Bowditch also won a medal after taking 19th place in 17:57. Other Pioneer scoring runners included freshman Eli Hines, who was 59th in 19:47; junior Elliott Cooper, who was 65th in 19:58; and senior Kaleb Boller, who was 102nd in 22:22.
Reece Johnson, a senior, was Rochester’s frontrunner, taking 39th place in 19:01. Other Rochester runners included sophomore Leandro Javier, who was 86th in 21:14, and junior Hayden Shuck, who was 97th in 21:54.
“I think everyone suffered a little bit with the heat today, even with getting out a little more conservative,” Gudeman said. “I told them to get out a little easier today than they had the past couple races, and for the most part, we did that, and it’s just because of the heat we couldn’t quite maintain that pace today. … The second mile was rough on everyone.”
Junior high
The Rochester Middle School boys cross-country team finished second with 103 points, duplicating their finish from the Caston Invite from Sept. 7. Hamilton Heights won with 43.
RMS runners finishing in the top 25 included Warner DuBois (11:02, ninth place), Caden Biernacki (11:05, 13th place) and Tyson
Wachtmann (11:35, 25th place).
Winamac was fourth in the team standings with Paxton Moon (10:49, fifth), Brody Bonnell (11:07, 16th) and Ethan Kruzick (11:13, 18th) all finishing in the top 25.
Pioneer had an incomplete team.
Meanwhile, Pioneer was second, Rochester was ninth, and Pioneer had an incomplete team in the girls race.
Northwestern won with 58 points.
Pioneer runners earning medals included Jolene Kennell (12:21, seventh), Brylie Caudle (12:25, ninth) and Evie Shafer (13:16, 24th).
Rochester medalists included Addisyn Osburn (10th, 12:38) and Katelyn Conliff (14th, 12:52).
Maconaquah Invitational girls results (points in parentheses): Maconaquah 43, Lewis Cass 77, Delta 97, Winamac 116, Manchester 121, McCutcheon 134, Northwestern 173, Rochester 181, Pioneer 207, Eastern (Greentown) 269
Incomplete teams: Northfield, Twin Lakes, North Miami, Tri-Central, Tipton, Sheridan
Winamac results (116 points, fourth place)
12. Kadence Hoover – 21:30 (11), 18. Avery Wegner – 22:23 (17), 24. Kandace Kroft – 23:38 (21), 28. Claire Goodman – 23:57 (24), 52. Madelyn Goodman – 25:58 (43), 69. Brody Goodman – 28:09, 91. Jersey Himes – 33:50
Rochester results (181 points, eighth place)
10. Allyson Calloway – 21:10 (9), 39. Brooklyn Chandler – 24:48 (35), 42. Kadence Bradley – 25:14 (37), 43. Adison Hayes – 25:14 (38), 97. Emah Bradley – 36:37 (62)
Pioneer results (207 points, ninth place)
34. Ellie Hines – 24:20 (30), 36. Avery Haselby – 24:34 (32), 37. Kylie Jamerson – 24:38 (33), 75. Laylynn Malchow – 29:09 (54), 88. Allison Martinez-Domingo – 32:47 (58), 101. Asher Leis – 40:29
Maconaquah Invitational boys results (points in parentheses): Western 76, McCutcheon 98, Northwestern 130, Lewis Cass 137, Manchester 163, Winamac 170, Maconaquah 176, Delta 190, Twin Lakes 193, Pioneer 205, Northfield 225, Eastern (Greentown) 235, Tipton 325
Incomplete teams: Rochester, Tri-Central, Taylor, North Miami, Sheridan
Winamac results (170 points, sixth place)
5. Logan Fredel – 16:53 (5), 17. Dylan Guilford – 17:55 (17), 21. Nathan Pierzchalski – 17:59 (21), 67. Kannon Hoover – 20:06 (57), 81. Joel Showley – 20:56 (70), 103. Braylen Becker – 22:34, 120. Ryan Bedwell – 23:57
Pioneer results (205 points, 10th place)
3. Leighton Dodt – 16:47 (3), 19. Dane Bowditch – 17:57 (19), 59. Eli Hines – 19:47 (52), 65. Elliott Cooper – 19:58 (55), 102. Kaleb Boller – 22:22 (76), 105. Kevin Gluth – 22:54, 116. Aayden Dimmock – 23:27, 132. Joel Sharp – 27:46
Rochester results
39. Reece Johnson – 19:01, 86. Leandro Javier – 21:14, 97. Hayden Shuck – 21:54
