Buchanan wins regional championships; local runners advance to finals
Published 11:55 am Sunday, October 29, 2023
The Buchanan cross country teams finished 18th at the Division 3 Cross Country Ch championships at Championships on Saturday. (Leader file photo)
Dowagiac’s Owen Saylor (center) is flanked by brothers Ethan (left) and Alec (right) after he qualified for the Division 2 state finals. (Photo courtesy Dowagiac Athletics)
Niles state qualifiers Aiden Krueger and Charlie Drew (middle) are seen with coaches Tony Todd (left) and Jami Roden (right) after qualifying for the Division 2 state cross country finals. (Submitted photo)
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PORTAGE — The Buchanan boys and girls cross country teams claimed Division 3 Regional cross country championships at Portage West Middle School on Saturday.
Led by individual regional champion Emma Miller, the Bucks won the girls’ team championship with 55 points. Bridgman was the runner-up with 67 points, while Schoolcraft (91), Kalamazoo Christian (115) and Union City (131) rounded out the top five.
Brandywine finished seventh with 140 points.
Miller posted a time of 20:09 to win the individual regional championship. Teammates Madeline Young (10th), Alaina Nagel (15th), Makynna Williams (16th) and Eleanor Young (20th) finished in the top 20. Madeline Young ran a 21:08, Nagel at 21:43, Williams a 21:45 and Eleanor Young a 22:19.
Brandywine was led by Miley Young’s 18th place finish and time of 21:08.
Buchanan finished with 70 points in the boys’ race, while Olivet was second with 83 points and Union City third with 135 points. Bridgman and Schoolcraft rounded out the top five with 154 and 155 points, respectively.
Britain Philips led a tightly packed Bucks squad with a 10th place finish and a time of 17:27. Coy Weinber was 13th (17:33), Jack Sherwood 14th (17:36), Liam McBeth 15th (17:38) and Jacob Kuntz 18th (17:48).
Brandywine and Cassopolis did not have enough runners to post team scores.
Cody Hoskins led the Bobcats with a time of 23:33, which was good for 99th place. Cassopolis’ Rhys Orth finished 63rd with a time of 19:53.
Division 2
Niles, Dowagiac and Edwardsburg all had individual qualifiers for the state finals.
The Vikings’ Aiden Krueger finished third overall in the Division 2 race at Portage West Middle School with a time of 16:09. Charlie Drew also qualified for the state finals as she finished 16th with a time of 20:24.
Dowagiac’s Owen Saylor placed sixth overall with a time of 16:34 to advance to the state finals at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Nov. 4.
Dane Bailey was the Eddies’ state qualifier after finishing 13th overall with a time of 16:49.
Edwardsburg placed fifth in the boys’ team standings, while Niles finished 10th. Dowagiac placed 13th. In the girls’ race, Niles placed eighth and Edwardsburg 11th.
