Updated: Dowagiac’s Little holds off Edwardsburg’s Leman to win at RedBud

Published 7:42 am Monday, September 25, 2017

By Scott Novak

BUCHANAN — Hundreds of runners swarmed to Buchanan for the Tri-State Invitational on Saturday, the site of this year’s cross country regional in October.

But in the end, it came down to just two runners in the boys race — Dowagiac’s Shawn Little and Edwardsburg’s Jack Leman.

The two were neck-and-neck for more than 2 miles in the 3.1-mile race.

After Little and Leman turned the corner at the 2-mile marker, Dowagiac’s top runner gained a bit of an advantage.

Little continued to build on that advantage and defeated Leman to win the race, hosted at the infamous RedBud MX, with a time of 16:50.

“Shawn watches his competition on Athletic.net so he knew this would probably be his toughest competition,” Dowagiac coach Dan VandenHeede said. “Jack stayed with him neck and neck about half way, then Shawn started pulling away. It didn’t surprise me as Shawn is strong throughout the race and has the stamina to outlast nearly everyone he comes up against.”

Leman finished second, with a time of 17:07, while Niles’ Devin Tomlinson took third, with a time of 17:21.

“It was very exciting to watch Jack and Shawn battle for the victory at Redbud on Saturday,” Edwardsburg coach Beth Gunn said. “Both athletes have incredible talent and it will be fun to see them race against each other the next couple of years. With this being Jack’s first year running cross country, not having enough experience pacing himself, I think he may have gone out a little too fast the first mile and then may have paid for it the rest of the race.

“It still was a very gutty and impressive performance he put on and I’m confident knowing the kind of person Jack is, he’s only going to get even stronger and be a real force to contend with for the next two and a half years in both cross and track.”

Berrien Springs captured the team championship, as the Shamrocks finished with 60 points to easily outdistance runner-up Zeeland East, which finished with 72 points.

Niles place fifth overall and Edwardsburg seventh.

Dowagiac did not have enough runners to post a team score.

Edwardsburg’s Cameron Cleveland dominated the girls race, as she finished with a time of 20:14, which was 41 seconds faster than runner-up Erin Moore, of Berrien Springs, who ran a time of 21:55.

“Cameron obviously ran a great race,” Gunn said. “She ran her own race and that worked out great for her. It’s so exciting and rewarding to see a female cross country runner remain a top contender all four years in high school, especially in a true distance event like cross country. “Cameron has a lot of natural talent but also is willing to put in the time during the off season to train hard allowing herself to always be in contention for winning every race. I’m so happy to see her reap the rewards she so richly deserves.”

The Eddies’ Sophia Mick finished seventh overall with a time of 21:27 as Edwardsburg tied with Niles for fourth place.

Kaylee Thompson led the Vikings with a time of 21:13. Teammate Kayla Trueblood finished 10th with a time of 21:56.

“I was happy to place third overall,” Niles coach Jami Foster said. “The two teams that placed ahead of us our in our regionals and it gives us a good look at what we will have to do the place in the top three at the regional meet.”

 

REDBUD TRI-STATE INVITATIONAL

At Buchanan

Girls results

Team scores

South Haven 74, Zeeland East 88, Niles 95, Edwardsburg 95, Lakeshore 141, Hopkins 146, Bridgman 190, Galesburg-Augusta 210, Coloma 248, Constantine 260, Berrien Springs 260, Buchanan 334, Brandywine 375.

 

Top 10

  1. Cameron Cleveland (ED) 20:14, 2. Erin Moore (BS) 20:55, 3. Holli Dannenburg (SH) 21:03, 4. Jasmine Fisher (H) 21:04. 5. Kaylee Thompson (N) 21:13, 6. Aubree Sedore (GA) 21:24, 7. Sophia Mick (ED) 21:27, 8. Lauyrn Coleman (GA) 21:31, 9. Katie Schooley (SH) 21:52, Kayla Trueblood (N) 21:56.

 

Additional Niles finishers

  1. Sydney Skarbek 22:37, 31. Cassie Klingerman 23:53, 32. Taylor Haboush 23:57, 37. Erin Thomas 24:21. 52. Kailey Skarbek 25:07, 61. Maeli Rogers 25:37, 63. Ally Crites 25:42, 65. Ashley Shortman 25:54, 71. Abigail Stein 26:11, 91. Lilly Jackson 27:25, 103. Zoey Martin 28:48, 110. Mackenzie Hall 29:44.

 

Additional Edwardsburg finishers

15 Chloe Bartz 22:19, 30. Zoe Pegura 23:48, 45. Anna Cleveland 24:41, 53. Elizabeth Jenkins 25:12, 114. Kitana Ryan 30:12, 116. Ashlyn Young 30:37.

 

Buchanan finishers

  1. Emily Riley 24:32, 104. Carly Greaves 28:51, 113. Jade Smith 30:12, 121. Sydney Bauer 31:26, 122. Mary Becvar 31:36, 124. Katie DeVlaminck 31:49, 129. Kassidy Koenigshof 33:20, 134. Nora Kaltenbach 34:28. 138. Tatum Spencer 37:19, 139. Abby Hickok 37:20.

 

Brandywine finishers

  1. Searra Inman 24:42, 127. Mia Frazer 32:31, 132. Emma Bratli 33:29, 140. Madison Franks 41:17, 141. Hannah Bradbury 41:17, 142. Sequoia McClurken 41:20.

 

Dowagiac

  1. Kellyn Daly 25:29, 64. Ruka Ushio 25:48, 87. Hayden First 27:07, 130. Maria Meza 33:24.

Boys results

Berrien Springs 60, Zeeland East 72, South Haven 84, Constantine 110, Niles 134, Lakeshore 144, Edwardsburg 155, Hopkins 187, Coloma 229, Galesburg-Augusta 272.

 

Top 10

  1. Shawn Little (D) 16:50, 2. Jack Leman (ED) 17:07, 3. Devin Tomlinson (N) 17:21, 4. Jackson Schooley (SH) 17:26, 5. Sean Valentine (BS) 17:32, 6. Craig Thompson (SH) 17:36, 7. Quinten Prieur (CO) 17:39, 8. Ashton Sheline (BS) 17:41, 9. Evan Griffiths (BS) 17:48, 10. Isaac Ringling (ZE) 17:50.

 

Additional Niles finishers

  1. Hunter Greenman 18:54, 26. Weston Eager 19:20, 45. Hayden Beckwith 20:29, 68. Zack Borton 21:50, 121. Muru Zhang 29:31.

 

Additional Dowagiac finishers

  1. William Leonard 21:54, 106. Ryan Payne 24:34, 115. Diego Martinez.

 

Brandywine finishers

  1. Keegan Rieth 27:21, 123. Mason Barenie 32:06.

 

Buchanan finishers

  1. Andrew Ruth 23:36, 113. Zach Young 25:25. 116. Frank Furst 26:45.

 

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