The Switzerland County Middle School cross country teams are off to outstanding starts this season.
On Thursday, August 30th, the teams participated in the Southwestern Invitational – winning both events.
In the boys race, the Pacers finished with 57 points; followed by Jennings County with 61; Austin with 75; Madison with 81; Scottsburg with 92; Madison Shawe with 166; and Southwestern with 171. Christian Academy participated but did not have enough runners to record a team score.
Individually for Switzerland County, Jordan Lay led the way with a third place finish in a time of 12:14; followed by Casper Stow in seventh place overall in 12:42.
Leon Kinne was 11th in 13:01; Damien Breeck was 13th in 13:15; Max Anders was 23rd in 14:07; Hunter Hayes was 25th in 14:20; and Cameron Papucci was 31st in a time of 15:00.
In the girls race, the Lady Pacers dominated the event, claiming the top three spots and six of the top nine to easily earn the title.
Switzerland County finished with 19 points; followed by Jennings County with 74; Scottsburg with 82; Madison with 87; Austin with 90; and Southwestern did not have enough runners to record a team score.
Whitley Schirmer continued her outstanding season by earned the individual championship in a time of 13:09.
She was followed by Taylar Jordan in second place overall in 13:43; Melissa Furnish in third place in a time of 14:28; Cameron Ray in sixth place in a time of 14:46; Moriah Northcutt was seventh in a time of 14:47; Audrey Kinne was ninth in 15:15; and Azalee Harsin was 18th in a time of 17:00.
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The teams participated in a dual meet at Jac-Cen-Del on Tuesday, September 4th.
In the girls race, the Lady Pacers won by a score of 17-42.
Whitley Schirmer again dominated the day, winning in a time of 12:43. Taylar Jordan finished second in a time of 13:15; Cameron Ray was third in a time of 14:23; Leah Anders was fifth in 15:05; and McKayli Scudder was sixth in 15:06.
Moriah Northcutt was seventh in 15:10; Melissa Furnish was 10th in 15:34; Azalee Harsin was 11th in 15:38; Audrey Kinne was 14th in 15:54; Calleigh Powell was 18th in 16:57; Aleiah Thomas was 20th in 17:08; Keegan Turner was 23rd in 18:15; Sierra Hamilton was 25th in 20:20; Zoe Cole was 27th in 21:50; Bailey Crawford was 29th in 25:41; Emma Sullivan was 30th in 25:42; and Deanna Voris was 31st in 26:32..
For the boys, the Pacers won by a team score of 23-36.
Casper Stow led the way with a second place finish in a time of 12:45; while Leon Kinne was right behind in third place in 13:11; and Max Anders was fourth in 13:15.
Cameron Papucci was sixth in 13:40; Hunter Hayes was eighth in 14:01; Patrick Stow was ninth in 14:31; Matt Oatman was 10th in 14:44; Mason Spurlock was 11th in 14:50; and Sam White was 12th in 14:59.
Dakota Fuller was 14th in 16:08; Riley Spurlock was 16th in 16:21; Garrett Demaree was 18th in 17:35; Austin Dennis was 20th in 18:27; Trent Spurlock was 21st in 18:31; Eli Martin was 23rd in 19:29; and Blake Johnson was 25th in 23:12.
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Last Thursday, September 6th, the teams participated in the Pre-ORVC meet at Southwestern.
The Lady Pacers again dominated, winning the meet with a team score of 23.
Whitley Schirmer was the individual champion, finishing in a time of 13:07. She was followed by teammate Taylar Jordan, who was second overall in a time of 13:32.
Cameron Ray was fifth overall in a time of 14:31; Melissa Furnish was sixth in a time of 14:34; Moriah Northcutt was ninth in a time of 15:09; Leah Anders was 12th in 15:37; and Azalee Harsin was 13th in 16:00.
The boys team finished second in the event, scoring a team total of 58 points.
Casper Stow was the leading runner for the Pacers, finishing sixth overall in a time of 12:28. Jordan Lay was ninth overall in a time of 12:54; and Leon Kinne was 11th overall in a time of 13:03.
Hunter Hayes was 15th in a time of 13:41; Max Anders was 17th in a time of 13:51; Cameron Papucci was 18th in 13:53; and Patrick Stow was 28th in 15:25.
The middle school teams return to action tonight (Thursday) when they travel to South Ripley for a three-way race against the Raiders and Milan. Larry Gault is the team’s coach.