Griswold sweeps the field at Shenandoah
SHENANDOAH — The Griswold Tigers girls’ cross country team walked away from Shenandoah with another team title last Thursday at the Shenandoah Invitational.
Griswold finished with a team score of 33 points, beating Shenandoah-Essex by 14 points. Four Griswold runners placed in the top eight, led by Rebekah Topham.
Topham blew away the rest of the competition when she ran a time of 14:01. It’s the second time Topham has won at Shenandoah. Her time was 15 seconds faster than last year.
Jordyn Sindt brought the Tigers another runner-up finish. Sindt ran a time of 15:02, finishing comfortably ahead of third place’s Tiffany Shepherd of Corning.
Sophomore Alyx Flippin had one of her best finishes of the season when she placed fourth with a time of 15:37 and beating out Megan Hart of Shenandoah-Essex.
Allison Young also had a strong finish for Griswold as she placed eighth with a time of 15:58.
Young was able to hold off Shenandoah-Essex runners Alexis Saner, Jasmine Glasgo and Mariah Johnson. Leah Lappe was the final scorer for Griswold as she placed 20th with a time of 16:48.
Jeana Freund and Larissa Backhaus finished inside the top 30 as they were 25th and 28th respectively.
For boys’ varsity, Griswold finished eighth with a team score of 229 points. Tyrel Peters was the top Griswold finisher as he placed 33rd with a time of 18:46.56.
Xavier Olivio finished just inside the top 40, placing 39th with a time of 18:58. Jacob Maass wasn’t far behind Olivio as he placed 42nd with a time of 19:04.
Peters, Olivio and Maass all improved their times by at least two minutes at Shenandoah from last season. Mason Anstey placed 65th with a time of 21:06, while Grant Haynes took 67th, running 21:41.
The Tigers had finishes from Aaron Methany, who was 77th and Kegan McManigal, who took 81st.
The junior varsity girls team also had a strong showing at Shenandoah. Payton Rush and Bridget Maurer were third and fourth in the JV race.
Rush, who ran a time of 17:24, was three seconds behind JV winner Phoenix Capps of Glenwood and a second behind Morganne Haer of Villisca. Maurer ran a time of 17:29.
Natalia Junzie took 19th and Bailey Powers finished 35th.
Griswold had one runner for the JV boys’ race as Robby Brandt finished 88th.
The Tigers competed at Nodaway Valley, but results weren’t available as of press time.
Thursday, they will be close to home as they compete at the Nishna Hills Golf Course in Atlantic.