By Cort Reynolds

GALION - The Ada cross country teams competed at the warm Galion Invitational this past Saturday morning.

"To date this was our toughest, and largest race of the season," recalled Ada head coach Joshua Klein. "The Bulldog cross country team ran in the warmest weather they've experienced all season.

"The addition of this heat, added to the challenge of a hillier terrain, resulted in a grueling course that our runners overcame.

"We trained hard this week at the park, and even made a trip out to the Ohio Northern University turbines in order to get used to the hills we would face in Galion," Klein continued. "This training helped our team to become mentally prepared for this weekend's race.

"This being said, I am proud of the effort our runners put forth, allowing many to improve upon their times from Thursday at Riverdale, (on) a much flatter terrain," he concluded.

The only Ada season personal-best time at Galion was posted by Olivia Ennis, who finished the 3.1-mile course in 27:00.

Ada girls times:

Abbie James: 23:23

Courtney "Coco" McLaughlin: 25:53

Olivia Ennis: 27:00

Alexis Ennis: 27:02

Paige Cole: 30:23.7

Dani Waugh: 32:40

Ada boys times:

Reece Evans: 19:52

Michael Crouse: 21:07

Hunter Wells: 21:55

Jacob Morgan: 22:32

Ian Dellifield: 28:07

"We will continue to train hard this week, and re-visit the hill at ONU as we prepare for the Van Wert meet," said Klein. "This race will again require the kids to ascend another steep slope to run around the top of the reservoir."

Ada runs next on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the Van Wert Invitational.