LAWRENCE – The Dowagiac boys’ cross country team finished third at the Lawrence Summer Kickoff on Friday.

Hartford won the overall championship wtih 52 points. Paw Paw was second with 58 points and Dowagiac third with 82.

Dowagiac’s Kasey Proshwitz was the winner as he ran a time of 17:55.

Hartford’s David Sexton was second with a clocking of 18:05.

The Chieftains’ Chris Gantt finished sixth overall with a time of 18:41. Jason Turner was 22nd (22:05), Matt Ernzen 25th (23:30), Ryan Daly 31st (24:10), Brandon Wilson 32nd (24:50), Ryne Wilming 33rd (24:51) and Tony Brooks 35th (25:55).

“Proshwitz just got stronger as the race went on and was pulling away at the end,” Dowagiac coach Ken Jordan said. “It was a career best finish for both Kasey and Chris. We need to close the gap between our top two runners and the rest of the team.”

The Chieftains girls’ team finished sixth.

Paw Paw was the champion with 46 points. Coloma was second with 62 points and Dowagiac finished with 135 points.

Megan Pearson of Paw Paw was the overall winner.

Samantha Mathews was the first Chieftain across the line in 17th place and a time of 26:59.

Leana Allen was 24th (28:19), Kayla Yakim was 35th (31:21), Kristina Bunn was 36th (31:22), Rebecca Luth 37th (31:45) and Ali Hess 40th (32:32).

Lexy Rank was 41st, Miranda East 42nd, Corinne Kasper 44th, Caitlin Shurte 48th, Michala Froehlich 49th, Savanna Lemon 50th and Sarah Hassle 52nd.

“Only four of our 13 girls had run a cross country race before, so it was a good chance to litterally get our feet wet,” Jordan said. “Several of the girls have only recently joined us, so it will take us some time.”

Dowagiac will compete in the St. Joe Invitational on Wednesday.

Lawrence Summer Kickoff
Boys’ results
Team scores

1. Hartford 52, 2. Paw Paw 58, 3. Dowagiac 82, 4. Lawrence 90, 5. Eau Claire 104, 6. Lawton 116, 7. Coloma 159

Girls
Team scores

1. Paw Paw 46, 2. Coloma 62, 3. Hartford 64, 4. Lawton 101, 5. Lawrence 111, 6. Dowagiac 135, 7. Eau Claire DNF