By Cort Reynolds
KENTON - The Ada cross country teams competed at the Kenton Invitational Thursday evening at the county fairgrounds in Kenton.
"After a full day of rain, the Bulldogs ran very well given the wet and muddy conditions of the Hardin County Fairgrounds," said Ada head coach Josh Klein. "Michael Crouse and Abbie James both set personal records for the season.
"We knew going into the race that most of our times would not be as fast as Kalida, given the slippery finish along the track in front of the grandstands.
"I prepped the athletes before running their race to make sure they had their footing, especially in the mud, if they were going to pick up their pace at the finish," he added.
Michael Crouse came in first for the Ada boys team in a new personal-best time. Abbie James finally broke into the 22-minute range and was short of 21 minutes by only 3.84 seconds.
Ada Kenton Invite times:
Michael Crouse 19:21.5
Reece Evans 19:46.25
Hunter Wells 20:34.72
Jacob Morgan 21:45.38
Ian Dellifield 26:36.84
Abbie James 22:03.84
Courtney "Coco" McLaughlin 25:06.81
Alexis Ennis 25:57.05
Paige Cole 28:57.12
Nora Dellifield 29:37.62
Dani Waugh 30:11.
Ada runs in the Hardin County meet Monday at the same site.
"Hopefully Monday's race will be on a much dryer course," said Klein. "I hope that Abbie will be into the low to mid 21's for the county meet given dryer terrain."
