By Cort Reynolds
SPENCERVILLE - The Ada boys cross country team finished a solid 10th out of 16 teams in the small school division at the Spencerville Invitational on a wet Saturday morning.
The Bulldogs finished ahead of all the other Northwest Conference schools in both divisions. Ada senior Miguel Jordan claimed a ninth-place finish, passing three people in the last 200 yards to post the best purple and gold individual showing.
Jordan covered the wet 3.1-mile course in 19:05.6.
"It was a wet meet," said Ada head coach Josh Klein. "Everyone left covered in mud and feeling like they showered in their uniforms.
"The mud and rain definitely played a factor in slowing our team down, but I'd rather see the kids be safe and gather their footing than fall and injure themselves because they were running carelessly," added Klein.
Other Ada boys finishes:
50th Michael Crouse 21:32.8
63rd Hunter Wells 22:07.0
67th Jacob Morgan 22:20.8
102nd Riley Ferguson 24:56.5
121st Keegan Giddens 27:19.9
Ada girls finishes:
49th Lauren Mullins 26:26.9
77th Alexis Ennis 29:08.8
"Despite the the slower times, the kids put in a hard fight and I finally saw our boys run as a pack for the first time in my three years of coaching," said Klein.
Botkins won the boys team title while Bradford finished first in the girls standings.
Freshman Brady Yingst of Perry won the boys race in 17:57.0. Fellow freshman Sarah Reinhart of Carey captured first in the girls race in 20:39.6.
Boys results
1 Botkins 55 points
2 Houston 102
3 Covington 102
4 Jackson Center 151
5 Antwerp 168
6 Wayne Trace 186
7 Ottoville 222
8 Carey 236
9 Delphos St. John's 243
10 Ada 245
Scoring places: 7 44 55 58 81 91
Total Time: 1:50:02.70
Ada average time: 22:00.54
11 Riverdale 271
12 Waynesfield-Goshen 312
13 L.C.C. 312
14 Leipsic 314
15 Allen East 329 Average time: 23:16.12
16 New Knoxville 346
Girls results
1 Bradford 52 points
2 Delphos St. John's 85
3 Botkins 96
4 Houston 101
5 Covington 115
6 Carey 121
7 Antwerp 138
8 Riverdale 153
9 New Knoxville 272
10 Jackson Center 278
11 Waynesfield-Goshen 300
Ada runs at the Riverdale Invite Thursday, September 14 at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs then compete in the Galion Invite Saturday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m.
