HUXLEY — Woodward-Granger cross country returned to action Monday with a visit to the Ballard Invitational.
The Hawk varsity girls (252 points) were ninth in the Class B team race, with Solon winning on 46 points, Roland-Story placing second at 69 and Atlantic third at 84.
IFA-AGWSR speedster Ellie May won the girls title in 19 minutes, 31 seconds, with Creston’s Braelyn Baker (20:28) and Solon’s Kiertsen Conway (20:51) second and third, respectively.
Libby, Sydney, and Katie Grell were the top three finishers for W-G, placing 43-46-49 in 26:00.7, 27:20 and 27:31, with Mackenzie Dresback 56th in 28:49 and Kaitlyn Smith 58th in 29:25. Madisyn Mann (61st, 31:33) and Marissa Trees (62nd, 36:18) also ran varsity but did not score.
The W-G boys varsity (274 points) was 10th in an 11-team field. Defending 1A state champ Madrid and Solon both finished with 43 points, with the former winning the meet when their sixth runner finished 24th and Solon’s sixth 25th. Atlantic was third at 82.
Jason Renze and Clay Pehl of Madrid were 1-2, in 16:35.3 and 16:36.8, with Atlantic’s Craig Alan Becker third in 16;48.8.
Carsten Wright was 27th, in 19:20, to pace the W-G team. Rounding out the scoring five were Xavier Ibarra (53rd, 22:12), Riece Graham (57th, 22:17), Joel Harney (67th, 24:04) and Dillon Limoges (70th, 24:14). Kurt Crouse (71st, 24:53.1) and Kainen Fuson (72nd, 24:53.3) also ran varsity.
W-G also ran in both the boys and girls two-mile middle school races.
Cael Lighton (14:41), Casey Foster (15:41), Grant Polito (15:49), Wiley Sharr (20:12), and Sidney Trees ran for the Hawk boys. Foster and Polito are eighth-graders, the others are in grade seven.
All seven of the W-G entries in the girls middle school race are in seventh grade, with Eva Fleshner leading the team by crossing fifth overall in 14:05.7. Jaidyn Achenbach (15:45), Zoey Osmundson (16:42), Talia Wright (18:00) and Chloe Creger (18:18) were also in action, as were Grace Sharr (20:02) and Rylee Woodard (20:13).
W-G returns to action Thursday with a visit to Panorama. The meet is held on the Panora Par 3 Golf Course.
