Local runners shine at Bellmont Invite
The Bellmont Invitational took place along a cross country course that passed through the athletic facilities of Bellmont on Wednesday night.
Two Adams County teams- the Bellmont boys and Adams Central girls- won the event.
Three male runners from Adams County finished inside the top five.
Bellmont athlete Hayden Whittenbarger was the runner-up in his race.
After Bryan Garcia came in first place for New Haven, Whittenbarger posted a time of 10:53.7. His average time per mile was 5:27.
Ethan Crockett of Adams Central stayed right with Whittenbarger in the pursuit of second place. In the end, though, Whittenbarger made it to the finish one one-hundredth of a second before Crockett.
Crockett was still comfortably in the top three, finishing 15.9 seconds ahead of Jerry Troyer of Woodlan.
Hudson Krull of Bellmont earned himself a top-five position when he timed 11:11.4.
Trevor Schwartz took home a seventh-place finish for Adams Central.
In order, Braves Harry Gunsett, Maddux Miller and Ethan Curtis placed 11th, 12th and 13th.
Reid Gerber was 15th for the Jets.
Bellmont enjoyed a wide margin at the top of the team standings when the night came to an end. The sum of placings earned by the top-five runners of Bellmont was 43. New Haven was second on 65.
Adams Central held off Heritage by one for third place.
For the girls, Adams Central runner Addison Gilbert finished in fourth place.
Gilbert used an average time of 6:46 per mile to earn her top placing in Decatur. The final time for Gilbert was 13:31.7.
A pair of her Adams Central teammates narrowly missed out on places in the top five.
Madison Gerber and Madison Hamilton placed sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Jets. 13:49.2 was the final time for Gerber. Hamilton crossed the finish line six one-hundredths of a second later.
Bellmont runner Sydney Angel made the top 10 on her home course, finishing the race in ninth place at 14:17.83.
Madison Witte finished 16th for the Braves. Abigail Rudy followed Witte, earning 17th place.
Jets Haley Jauregui and Hailey Brune were right behind the pair of Braves, earning positions 18 and 19, respectively.
Adams Central edged Leo by one place to take home first place in the team event. 54 was the score for the Jets. Leo accumulated a total of 55.
Bellmont finished fourth behind North Side.
Rowyn Norris of Leo won the event individually after she finished the race in a little over 12 minutes. She enjoyed a lead of 43.5 seconds when she completed the course.