By By ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
Although Niles placed three runners in the Top 10 at the boys' race in Saturday's Berrien County Cross Country meet, they fell just short of taking the county title.
Niles and race-winner St. Joseph dominated the meet, scoring less than half as many points as the other 13 schools in the meet. The Bears were just a little bit better, however, scoring 33 points to the Vikings' 40.
Buchanan finished eighth with 188 points, and Brandywine took 12th with 266.
Niles placed five runners in the top 13 slots, led by Logan Todd, who finished third overall with a time of 17:19. Austin Nielson (18:13) took fifth, Steve Scally (18:25) took 10th, Dan Geiger (18:34) took 12th and Andy Karsten (18:40) took 13th for Niles.
The boys' race was won by Lakeshore's Andy Lawrick in a tight one. Lawrick (16:58) beat St. Joseph's Ryan Ellsperman (16:59) by just one second.
Harper Sulies (18:58) was Buchanan's top finisher, taking 17th place overall. For Brandywine, Brain Wieger (19:11) finished 23rd.
While the boys' race was close, the girls' race was even closer. Anna Burch of St. Joseph beat Sarah Zebell, also of St. Joseph, by just 0.5 seconds. The Bears won the girls' race to complete the sweep of the meet.
Niles' girls finished ninth, led by Samantha Brawley, who took 19th place with a time of 23.16. Buchanan finished eighth, and Brandywine win did not have enough runners to record a team score.
Caylin Garrard led the Bobcats, finishing in 25th place with a time of 23:50.
Boys' results
Team scores
St. Joseph 33, Niles 40, Lakeshore 100, Lake Michigan Catholic 149, River Valley 157, Watervliet 161, Buchanan 188, New Buffalo 188, Coloma 234, Bridgman 249, Brandywine 266, Benton Harbor 342, Berrien Springs (did not finish), Eau Claire (did not finish).
Top 10
1. Andy Lawrick (Lakeshore) 16:58. 2. Ryan Ellsperman (St. Joseph), 16:59. 3. Logan Todd (Niles), 17:19. 4. Brian Ludwig (St. Joseph), 17:31. 5. Austin Nielson (Niles), 18:13. 6. Sam Taggart (St. Joseph), 18:18. 7. Brendan McCann (St. Joseph), 18:15. 8. Marco Casiano (Watervliet), 18:21. 9. Kyle Banish (Berrien Springs), 18:24. 10. Steve Scally (Niles), 18:25.
Girls' results
Team scores
St. Joseph 24, Lakeshore 38, Berrien Springs 141, Bridgman 147, Lake Michigan Catholic 148, River Valley 175, Coloma 179, Buchanan 179, Niles 188, New Buffalo 220, Benton Harbor (did not finish), Brandywine (did not finish)
Top 10
1. Anna Burch (St. Joseph), 20:29.1. 2. Sarah Zebell (St. Joseph), 20:29.6. 3. Jessica Schewe (Lakeshore), 20:43. 4. Hannah Damton (St. Joseph), 20:54. 5. Angela Pscholka (Lakeshore), 21.13. 6. Liz Slabaugh (Lakeshore), 21:13. 7. Becky Schmidt (St. Joseph), 21:28. 8. Jessica Banish (Berrien Springs), 21.33. 9. Allie Muchmore (Lakeshore), 22:12. 10. Ashley Taggart (St. Joseph), 22:22.