Manchester hosts Adams County XC Meet

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

A blistering sun and temperatures near 90 degrees. That doesn’t seem to be the ideal weather for running long distances but run they did on September 18 as Manchester High School welcomes the cross-country teams from the other three county schools for the annual Adams County Meet. For whatever reasons, the numbers are down this season for cross-country in the county but that did nothing to dampen the efforts of runners last week as they ignored the elements and completed high school, junior high and elementary races.

Backus of athletes involved in other sport, the High School Boys race, which would normally be last, was first last week and it was North Adams senior Ryan Reed running away from the field. Reed traversed the course in a time of 17:58.4, nearly two minutes ahead of the second place finisher, Manchester junior Ryan Butcher-Raines, who came down the chute in a time of 19:27.4.

In each of the day’s races, the top seven runner were named All-County and for the high school boys, finishing third behind Reed and Butcher-Raines was Manchester senior Braylan Roberts in a time of 19:32.7. Fourth place went to Peebles junior Gray Myers (19:34.7), fifth went to Manchester junior Elijah Crabtree (20:02.8), sixth to North Adams freshman Jaxon Baldwin (20:12.9) and the final All- County spot went to Peebles freshman Calen Vogler (20:12.9).

The high school boys team title went to Manchester with a total score of 28, with North Adams second (34) and West Union third (68).

Up next was the junior high race and the boys and girls ran together, which makes the results a bit more difficult to decipher. The top seven All-County runners began with Manchester’s Ryan Parker, who won the race in a time of 13:36. Second place went to North Adams’ Braxton Hesler with a time of 13:56.8, while third place went to West Union’s Ethan Caldwell in his time of 14:05.5. Placing fourth was North Adams’ Knox Williams at 14:16.8 with the fifth slot went to Manchester’s Carson Horner at 15:24.8. West Union’s John Smith was sixth (15:34.7) with seventh place going to Manchester’s Jackson Roberts (16:53.3).

The champion of the junior high girls race was North Adams seventh grader Haylee Wheeler, who topped the field in a time of 14:22.2. The second place finisher was Manchester’s Tillee Thatcher in a time of 15:04.5 with the third spot going to North Adams’ Trinity Bosko with a time of 15:33.8. West Union’s Tabitha Armstrong was fourth at 16:13.4, Manchester’s Hayden Rideout fifth at 16:36.4, West Union’s Aubree Hoop sixth at 18:20,6, and Manchester’s Maliry Gruber seventh (18:32.2.

Next up was the high school girls race with 20 runners competing. Leading the pack and taking first overall was Manchester freshman Leotie Carman, who crossed the finish line in a time of 22:07.3. Carman’s teammate, senior Emma Hurst, came in second at 23:07.7, with third place going to West Union freshman Ella Shupert with er time of 23:16.2. The fourth overall finisher was West Union sophomore Lydia Armstrong in a time of 23:52.5, with the fifth spot belonging to another Lady Dragon, senior Sadie Atmstrong at 24:03.8. Yet another West Union runner, freshman Stella Rhonemus was sixth at 24:37.9 and rounding out the All-County runners was Manchester senior Maddie Lejzerowicz with a time of 24:44.4.

In the girls team standing, West Union is the 2024 county champion with their final total of 26. Manchester was second at 32, with North Adams third at 71.

For local cross-country fans looking ahead, the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Meet will be held on Saturday, October 14 at Ripley High School.