NILES — The deck was stacked against Niles senior Kaylee Thompson as she tried to defend her Berrien County Meet championship on Saturday.

Thompson beat the odds as she overcame illness and weather to win back-to-back titles at Lake Michigan College.

The senior standout had been battling illness leading up to the competition, which was switched from Watervliet to LMC due to the Eastern Equine Ensophlitous issues in southwest Michigan.

Heavy rains blanketed the area overnight, which forced postponements of area sporting events on Friday night and turned the LMC cross country course into mud.

“I was happy for Kaylee for winning the Berrien County meet,” said Niles coach Jami Foster. “It’s difficult to win one year let alone back-to-back with the local competition. I was pleased with her time on a new course that was extremely muddy. It’s hard to achieve a personal best when there isn’t much traction on the course due to a huge amount of rainfall.”

That did not seem to matter to Thompson as she ran away from the field, winning by nearly 28 seconds over St. Joseph’s Riley Mullen.

Thompson posted a time of 20:02, while Mullen ran a 20:30. Last year, in winning the Berrien County Meet, Thompson ran a time of 19:40 under more favorable conditions for running.