By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Indiana continued its dominance of the early cross country meets as LaPorte captured both the boys' and girls' titles at the Edwardsburg Invitational on Saturday at Dowagiac Middle School.
LaPorte easily outdistanced runner-up Sturgis in the boys' portion of the meet. The Slicers scored 16 points, while the Trojans finished with 36 points.
Bangor finished third with 39 points and Cedar Springs fourth with 55 points. Delton Kellogg rounded out the top five with 70 points.
Niles finished ninth (123) and Dowagiac 10th (131). Cassopolis and Brandywine did not finish enough runners to score points.
The Slicers had to work a little harder to win the girls' meet as they edged Cedar Springs 29-31.
Sturgis finished third with 34 points, while Wolverine Conference schools Vicksburg and Plainwell finished fourth and fifth respectively with 54 and 56 points.
Niles placed eighth (95) and Edwardsburg 10th (131). Dowagiac, Cassopolis and Brandywine did not finish enough runners to score points.
LaPorte was the overall combined winner with a score of 45. Sturgis finished second with Cedar Springs, Delton Kellogg and Vicksburg rounding out the top five.
In order to score in the meet, each team had to have at least one finisher in each class. There were four races on Saturday -two each for boys and girls. The races were divided into freshmen-sophomore and junior-senior.
Mike Fout of LaPorte was the overall boys' winner with a time of 15:07. Nate Knisley of Coldwater was second with a time of 16:03. Edwardsburg's Jake Roberts finished 12th with a time of 17:26.
Molly Waterhouse of Vicksburg was the girls' overall winner with a time of 19:40. Katy Cramer of Cedar Springs was second with a clocking of 20:19.
Finishing for Niles in the girls freshmen-sophomore race were Liz VandenHeede (22:20), who was ninth; Sarah Crabtree (23:54), who was 24th and Ashley Allison (25:50), who was 39th.
Edwardsburg's Vearonica Brubacher was 10th with a time of 22:43, while Kaitlyn Buzalski was 23rd with a time of 23:53.9.
In the boys' race, Niles Mark Calhoun finished sixth with a time of 18:02. Dowagiac's Kasey Proshwitz was 27th with a time of 19:27, while Eric Morton was 33rd with a time of 19:42. Brandywine's Tyler Weeden finished 29th with a clocking of 19:39.
Efrain Soto finished with a time of 21:04, while Brandon Wilson ran a time of 27:00.
Savannah Eby was the lone Chieftain in the freshmen-sophmore girls' race. She posted a time of 28:25.
In the junior-senior girls' race, Niles' Autumn Grayson finished 13th with a time of 22:59.
Dowagiac's Kayla Saviano finished 33rd with a clocking of 25:11.
Chelsey Preston and Katie Hewitt ran 26:51 and 30:01 respectively for Dowagiac.
In the boys' race, Niles' Nicholas Schuck finished 31st with a time of 18:32. Dowagiac's Andrew Cuthbert and Adam Hess were 34th and 37th respectively with times of 18:45 and 18:52. Niles' Daniel Geiger finished 38th with a time of 19:00.
Mike Kasper ran a time of 19:39.2, while Jason Fryman ran 20:14. Nate Long (20:19), Josh Deuel (21:07) and Tony Saviano (21:54) rounded out the finishers for the Chieftains.
"All in all, it was a positive first race for us," Dowagiac coach Ken Jordan said. "Most schools had an advantage of having a race in already. I thought Kasey Proshwitz and Eric Morton ran very well in the freshmen-sophomore race."
Edwardsburg Invitational
Overall Results
1 LaPorte 45, 2. Sturgis 70, 3. Cedar Springs 86, 4. Delton Kellogg 128, 5. Vicksburg 150, 6. Plainwell 150, 7. Bangor 161, 8. Coldwater 175, 9. Niles 218, 10. Berrien Springs 299, 11. Paw Paw 393
Boys' Team Scores
LaPorte 16, Sturgis 36, Bangor 39, Cedar Springs 55, Delton Kellogg 70, Mendon 88, Plainwell 97, Coldwater 100, Niles 123, Dowagiac 131, Berrien Springs 146, Watervliet 221, Marcellus Howardsville 226, Paw Paw 246
Junior-Senior Race
1. Mike Fout (LaPorte) 15:07, 2. Nate Knisely (Coldwater) 16:03, 3. Tyler Emmorey (Cedar Springs) 16:15, 4. Kiel Lovekin (LaPorte) 16:37, 5. Matt Miller (LaPorte) 16:48, 6. Austin Brown (Sturgis) 16:50, 7. Andrew Fuentes (Bangor) 16:55, 8. Will Dresser (Sturgis) 17:02, 9. Kyle Banish (Berrien Springs) 17:08, 10. Jake Hojnacki (LaPorte) 17:17, 11. Zach Mills (Coldwater) 17:20, 12. Jake Roberts (Edwardsburg) 17:26, 13. Justin Durbin (Delton Kellogg) 17:31, 14. Andy Barrus (Sturgis) 17:34, 15. Tyler Toll (LaPorte) 17:39.
Freshmen-Sophomore Race
1. Matt Miller (LaPorte) 16:48, 2. Glenn Galle (Cedar Springs) 17:44, 3. Jace Quinn (Bangor) 17:49, 4. Jay Marshall (Sturgis) 17:52, 5. Corbin Slater (LaPorte) 17:54, 6. Mark Calhoun (Niles) 18:02, 7. David Watson (Bangor) 18:02.4, 8. Israel Munoz (Bangor) 18:02.8, 9. Matt Melvin (Bangor) 18:03, 10. Chris Ryan (Vicksburg) 18:21, 11. Jeff Young (LaPorte) 18:32, 12. Spencer Batten (Mendon) 18:23.3) 13. William Hodge (Bangor) 18:34, 14. Mark Beams (Vicksburg) 18:38, 15. Jon Ryan (Vicksburg) 18:49
Girls' Team Scores
LaPorte 29, Cedar Springs 31, Sturgis 34, Vicksburg 54, Plainwell 56, Delton Kellogg 58, Coldwater 75, Niles 95, Bangor 127, Edwardsburg 131, Paw Paw 147, Berrien Springs 153
Junior-Senior Race
1. Molly Waterhouse (Vicksburg) 19:40, 2. Katy Cramer (Cedar Springs) 20:19, 3. Alev Keyser (Sturgis) 20:39, 4. Lisa Muller (Plainwell) 20:44, 5. Becca Kuehn (LaPorte) 20:58, 6. Kate Brundige (Vicksburg) 21:10, 7. Meagan Neary (Coldwater) 21:23, 8. Ruthie Sloan (Sturgis) 21:41, 9. Gabby Weber (LaPorte) 21:52, 10. Brittany Jansen (Sturgis) 21:58, 11. Kristin Heator (Coldwater) 22:00, 12. Nicole Komasinski (LaPorte) 22:04, 13. Rachel Davis (Plainwell) 22:05, 14. Mandy Dye (Delton Kellogg) 22:06, 15. Chelsea Holicki (Coldwater) 22:08.
Freshmen-Sophomore Race
1. Alev Kyser (Sturgis) 20:39, 2. Becca Kuehn (LaPorte) 20:56, 3. Gabby Weber (LaPorte) 21:52, 4. Brittany Jansen (Sturgis) 21:58, 5. Rachel Davis (Plainwell) 22:05, 6. Mandy Dye (Delton Kellogg) 22:06, 7. Stephanie Harthorn (Cedar Springs) 22:17, 8. Erika Bauer (Cedar Springs) 22:18, 9. Liz VandenHeede (Niles) 22:20, 10. Veronica Brubacher (Edwardsburg) 22:43, 11. Katie Gross (LaPorte) 22:47, 12. Mandy Mann (Cedar Springs) 22:48, 13. Christian Hall (Sturgis) 22:59, 14. Breeanne Ovokaitis (Cedar Springs) 23:05, 15. Caitlin Leighton (Mendon) 23:13