The Switzerland County cross country teams opened the season on Monday with a three-way meet against Rising Sun and Shawe.
The boys cross country team placed first in the three-way meet. Team scores had the Pacers with 30 points, followed by Rising Sun with 36 and Shawe with 60.
Top finishers for the Pacers included: Jim Abbott, second place in a time of 18:37; Josh Snow, third place in a time of 18:51; Clay Meyer, fifth place in a time of 19:12; Zach Getz, eighth place in a time of 19:32; Cliff Meyer, 12th place in a time of 20:15; Travis Webster, 13th place in a time of 20:46; Kyle Green, 16th place in a time of 21:59; Mark Sharp, 22nd place in a time of 27:19; and Matt Johnson, 23rd place in a time of 29:42.
“I feel the boys packed up and ran very well. We definitely have work to do, but for the first meet of the season we performed well,” Pacer coach Mark Boggs said.
In the girls meet, the Lady Pacer team placed second with a score of 43.
Rising Sun won the meet with a team score of 19, and Shawe did not field a complete team.
Top finishers for Switzerland County in the girls meet included: Amanda Hon, second place in a time of 17:46; Shana Todd, eighth place in a time of 21:02; April Thieman, 10th place in a time of 21:42; Beth Abbott, 11th place in a time of 22:59; Melissa Kinne, 13th place in a time of 25:47; Heather Thomas, 14th place in a time of 26:09; and Emilee Waldron, 16th place in a time of 32:36.
“As a team, we have a lot of work to do,” Mark Boggs said the girls team. “This was several of the girls’ first varsity race. We were also missing two runners due to illness.”