MS XC: LMS Girls take I-8 XC crown; boys finish eighth

MARSHALL, MI. — The Coldwater Legg Middle School (LMS) Cardinal Cross Country team traveled to Turkeyville in Marshall on Saturday to compete in their portion of the Interstate 8 Conference Championship.

In the girls portion of the day it was the LMS Lady Cardinals winning the championship, winning the meet with a total team score of 65 points. Not far behind was the team from Lumen Christi who finished with runner-up honors with a score of 72 points, followed by Parma Western in third place with 77 points, Harper Creek in fourth place with 87 points, Hastings in fifth place with 124 points, Northwest in sixth place with 152 points, Marshall in seventh place with 161 points, and Pennfield in eighth place with a score of 166 points.

Coldwater’s championship run came thanks to four runners finishing inside the top 15, with two of those finishing inside the top 10.

Leading the way for Coldwater was seventh grader Gwen Eby who finished in third place overall in a time of 13 minutes, 29.4 seconds while eighth grade teammate Annika Johnson finished in sixth place in a time of 14 minutes, 6.2 seconds. Also scoring key points for Coldwater with their top 15 finish was Ellerie Bucklin in tenth place in a time of 14 minutes, 33.2 seconds and Harper Anglin in eleventh place, also in a time of 14 minutes, 33.2 seconds.

Rounding out the LMS effort was Adriana Hernandez in thirty-sixth place in a time of 16 minutes, 5.0 seconds and Elizabeth Newberry in one hundred and sixth place in a time 21 minutes, 31.4 seconds.

The overall individual winner for the girls race was Hastings eighth grader Caroline Randall who finished in first place in a time of 12 minutes, 14.2 seconds.

In the boys portion of the race it was Harper Creek taking home the championship with a score of 61 points, not far ahead of Hastings in second place with 65 points. Western finished in third place with 71 points, followed by Northwest in fourth place with 85 points; Lumen Christi in fifth place with 119 points; Marshall in sixth place with 121 points; and Coldwater Legg Middle School in seventh place with 168 points.

Coldwater had one runner finish inside the top 20 as sixth grader Johan Aburto finished in nineteenth place in a time of 13 minutes, 21.8 seconds. Rounding out the Coldwater effort was Giovanni Gonzalez in thirty-first place in a time of 13 minutes, 42.6 seconds; Parker Hetrick in thirty-fifth place in a time of 13 minutes, 57.0 seconds; Joseph Searls in thirty-ninth place in a time of 14 minutes, 19.3 seconds; Braylon Wood in fifty-fifth place in a time of 15 minutes, 19.5 seconds; and Alex Torres-Alacantar in seventy-eighth place in a time of 16 minutes, 39.5 seconds.

Taking home the individual victory was Marshall eighth grader Abraham McHugh who took home the gold medal in a time of 11 minutes, 29.4 seconds.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater Legg Middle School Cross Country races in I-8 championship