The Penns Valley cross country teams were hotter than the temperatures on Tuesday in a race that was run over the Rams home course near Spring Mills winning the dual over Tyrone 15-43. The race was run over the Rams new cross country course, with the first place times holding the respective records.
With the heat slowing times, the PV boys had the first seven runners, led by Matt Brooker (17:32) and Nathan Brown (17:45).
James Russell broke through for the Golden Eagles, with an eighth place finish in 18:40, Dustin Elder was 10th in 19:41, Nathan Kruis was 13th in 20:40, Evan Lewis was 19th in 23:55, and Travis Johnson was 20th in the same time.
“All of our boys ran very hard races. Newcomer James Russell ran a great race. He started the season a little late, but ha ran fantastic and is a welcome addition to the boys team. Dustin Elder and Nathan Kruis followed,” said Tyrone cross country coach Tammy Wills. “They both ran very tough races. Evan Lewis and Travis Johnson followed as our final point scorers. Penns Valley is a very tough team, but we all stayed with the pack and gave them a good run.”
Ashley Ford was the top runner for the Tyrone Lady Eagles with a eighth place in 27:32. Penns Valley defeated the Tyrone girls 15-50, with the Lady Eagles once again short on numbers. With five runners required for scoring, Tyrone was a runner short. Finishing together in a pack, Meghan Miller (35:41), finished 12th in the dual against the Lady Rams, and Andrea Daughenbaugh (35:57) was 13th, Stephanie Schmidt (36:46) was 14th.
“Heat was a factor for both teams. Our numbers were down, we only had four girls. Ashley Ford led our girls today. She ran a good race, she continues to show progress as have our other newcomers-Annie Daughenbaugh, Stephanie Schmidt and Meghan Miller. Although Penns Valley has a wonderful cross country course, heat was a major factors for all the teams and it showed in the times. The girls are looking forward to next week when they will run at home.”
Penns Valley’s Shannon Decker won the girls race in 23:44.
The Tyrone cross country teams have their only home match of the year on Tuesday, Oct. 2 when they will run against Bellwood-Antis and Central beginning at 4 p.m.
