BERRIEN SPRINGS — There were no surprises as far as the outcome of the Lakeland Conference cross country championships.

Edwardsburg and Bridgman came into the meet at Berrien Springs High School having gone through the regular portion of their league seasons undefeated (5-0).

Both ran away with the conference meet championships and claim the outright titles.

Edwardsburg scored 35 points in the girls’ race to easily outdistance runner-up Coloma, which finished with 44 points. The Eddies did it with four of their top five runners being freshmen.

Aubrey Ritchey, a freshman, completed an undefeated conference campaign by besting the field Monday afternoon with a time of 20:18. Coloma’s Kaisa Ala’Venna, a senior, was second with a time of 21:01.

The Eddies also grabbed the fifth, sixth and ninth place spots in the finishing order with three more freshmen — Gianna Haller, Brittany Udell and Isabelle Peak.

“They are tremendous,” Edwardsburg coach Beth Gunn said. “They have made the difference between winning conference and not and even being competitive. I can’t say enough about them. They’ve got great attitudes, they’ve got great work ethics and they are not afraid to work hard. It’s a tremendous group of kids.

“She is one of the toughest athletes I have ever had. She is not afraid to work hard at all. She is not afraid to run in pain or discomfort. A lot of people get to that level and they just back off because they are afraid of what it might feel like. She will run right through it. You don’t get a lot of athletes like that.”

“It was challenging,” Ritchey said of the course. “I think the hills, I just wasn’t ready for it today. On the straightaways, the wind had an adverse effect.”

The Bees did the same thing the Eddies did in the boys’ race as they grabbed the first four spots and had all five of its runners in the top eight.

Justin Kiewel won the individual conference championship with a time of 17:36.

Edwardsburg’s Ben Getz took fifth (18:12), Brandywine’s Michael Robbins was sixth (18:19) and the Bobcats’ Collin Mattiford seventh (18:22) to keep Bridgman from completing the sweep.

Both the Eddies and Bobcats moved up from their regular season finishe at the conference meet. The Eddies finished second, one spot better than they came into the day and finished second overall in the final standings.

Brandywine was sixth during the regular season, but finished third to earn a tie for fourth place in the overall standings.

Veteran Bobcats’ coach Jim Murray felt that if the season had gone the way he had planned it, Brandywine may have given the Bees a run for their money.

“It’s kind of wishful thinking if you look at where we could have been,” he said. “Those years happen. I kind of felt at the beginning of the season if everything would have gone the way we had planned we could have been competitive and just how well you never know until you shoot the gun. Then the way everything turned out it’s a nice finish. Hopefully we can get a good finish on Saturday and maybe sneak someone out of the regional.”

The postseason continues for the area cross country teams Saturday in Portage at the regional meets.

Lakeland Conference

Cross Country Championships

At Berrien Springs

Boys’ results

Top 15

1. Justin Kiewel (Bridgman) 17:36.4; 2. Jarrett Anderson (Bridgman) 17:48.5; 3. Brandon Enders 18:01.6; 4. Cameron Bredice 18:30.3; 5. Ben Getz (Edwardsburg) 18:12.5; 6. Michael Robbins (Brandywine) 18:19.7; 7. Collin Mattiford (Brandywine) 18:22.2; 8. Colin Ulrath (Bridgman) 18:30.3; 9. Stephen Foster (Berrien Springs) 18:43.0; 10. Ryan Cade (Coloma) 18:47.4; 11. Carsten McCarthy (Buchanan) 18:57.1; 12. Derek Scott (Edwardsburg) 18:58.2; 13. Alan Lopez (Edwardsburg) 19:09.4; 14. Colin Mead (Berrien Springs) 19:18.2; 15. Cameron Collier (Berrien Springs) 19:34.2

Conference meet standings

1. Bridgman 18; 2. Edwardsburg 66; 3. Brandywine 82; 4. Berrien Springs 87; 5. Buchanan 120; 6. Coloma 121

Dual meet standings

1. Bridgman (5-0); 2. Berrien Springs (4-1); 3. Edwardsburg (3-2); 4. Buchanan (2-3); 5. Coloma (1-4); 6. Brandywine (0-5)

Overall final standings

1. Bridgman; 2. Edwardsburg; 3. Berrien Springs; 4. (tie) Buchanan and Brandywine; 6. Coloma

Girls’ results

Top 15

1. Aubrey Ritchey (Edwardsburg) 20:18.7; 2. Kaisa Ala’venna (Coloma) 21:01.4; 3. Jessica Nave (Berrien Springs) 21:06.0; 4. Heidi Conrad (Coloma) 21:38.9; 5. Gianna Haller (Edwardsburg) 22:16.6; 6. Brittany Udell (Edwardsburg) 22:42.7; 7. Rachel Tallman (Coloma) 22:54.7; 8. Allison Mitchell (Buchanan) 23:02.7; 9. Isabelle Peak (Edwardsburg) 23:09.8; 10. Lydia Sankey (Bridgman) 23:21.2; 11. Lindsay Lowery (Bridgman) 23:23.2; 12. Rachel Frost (Buchanan) 23:42.0; 13. Kirstten Berni (Bridgman) 23:47.7; 14. Miranda Bronicki (Edwardsburg) 23:51.6; 15. Sydney Sample (Coloma) 24:02.0

Conference meet standings

1. Edwardsburg 35; 2. Coloma 44; 3. Bridgman 75; 4. Buchanan 84; 5. Berrien Springs 102; 6. Brandywine 184

Dual meet standings

1. Edwardsburg (5-0); 2. Coloma (4-1); 3. Bridgman (3-2); 4. Berrien Springs (2-3); 5. Buchanan (1-4); 6. Brandywine (0-5)

Overall final standings: 1. Edwardsburg; 2. Coloma; 3. Bridgman; 4. (tie) Buchanan and Berrien Springs); 6. Brandywine