THREE RIVERS — Newest Big 16 Conference member Gull Lake made quite a splash at the league’s cross country championships Saturday.
The Blue Devils easily captured the girls’ championship and finished second in the boys’ race.
Gull Lake had four of its runners in the top 15 and scored 48 points in the girls’ race to outdistance runner-up St. Joseph, which finished with 99 points. Sturgis was third with 100 points.
Niles placed 14th.
Peyton Boughton of Sturgis was the overall winner with a time of 19:13. Becca Schott of Coldwater was second with her time of 19:14.
The Vikings’ top placer was Bridgett Carpenter, who was 67th with a time of 23:05. Anne Tyler was 75th, Abigail Gaines 80th, Allison Grant 82nd and Ava McKeel 88th.
Just as it has done all year, the St. Joseph boys’ team was the class of the field at Three Rivers.
The Bears scored 22 points to blow away runner-up Gull Lake, which finished with 77 points. Sturgis was third with 98 points. Niles placed 12th.
St. Joseph was so dominating that it placed all five of its runners in the top 10, including taking four of the first five spots.
Thomas Meeker of Mattawan was the lone runner to break up the Bears as he captured the individual championship with a time of 16:24.
Niles’ Sam VandenHeede finished 18th with a time of 17:23. Michael Geiger was 58th, Daniel Sierra 79th, Nicholas Borkowski 80th and Ryan Roberts 84.
The Vikings will now set their sights on the Division 2 regional Saturday in Portage.

Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference
Cross Country Championships
At Three Rivers
Girls’ results
Team scores
Gull Lake 48, St. Joseph 99, Sturgis 100, Mattawan 130, Battle Creek Lakeview 167, Marshall 168, Portage Northern 178, Portage Central 181, Battle Creek Harper Creek 237, Coldwater 262, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 276, Lakeshore 302, Niles 392

Top 15
1. Peyton Boughton (Sturgis) 19:13, 2. Becca Schott (Coldwater) 19:14, 3. Kelsey Keyser (Sturgis) 19:45, 4. Hayley Buckout (Gull Lake) 19:53, 5. Mikayla Hostetler (Gull Lake) 19:59, 6. Savina Malinverno (Portage Northern) 20:03, 7. Leah Coonrood (Gull Lake) 20:03, 8. Rachel Bendewald (St. Joseph) 20:13, 9. Brianna Kalisz (Marshall) 20:13. 10. Alaina Smith (Mattawan) 20:15. 11. Jade Hubbard (Loy Norrix) 20:20, 12. Jessie Armstrong (St. Joseph) 20:30, 13. Abbie Scheske (Sturgis) 20:30, 14. Ashley Merica (Gull Lake) 20:38, 15. Sarah Corbe (St. Joseph) 20:41

Niles placers
67. Bridgett Carpenter 23:05
75. Anne Tyler 23:55
80. Abigail Gaines 24:09
82. Allison Grant 24:31
88. Ava McKeel 26:17
92. Courtney Ankrapp 28:28

Boys’ results
Team scores
St. Joseph 22, Gull Lake 77, Sturgis 98, Mattawan 109, Battle Creek Lakeview 139, Portage Northern 168, Portage Central 206, Kalamazoo Central 227, Marshall 247, Battle Creek Harper Creek 269, Coldwater 311, Niles 319, Lakeshore 358, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 381

Top 15
1. Thomas Meeker (Mattawan) 16:24, 2. Ryan Leahy (St. Joseph) 16:38, 3. David Berry (St. Joseph) 16:42, 4. Joseph Beemer (St. Joseph) 16:45, 5. Charlie Felton (St. Joseph) 16:54, 6. Sam Butler (Gull Lake) 16:56, 7. Aaron Bell (Mattawan) 17:01, 8. Nick Whise (St. Joseph) 17:02, 9. Blake Wilson (BC Lakeview) 17:04 10. Jeremy Simon (Gull Lake) 17:05, 11. Grant Brown (Sturgis) 17:08, 12. Marten Grube (Sturgis) 17:14, 13. Scott Bradley (BC Lakeview) 17:16, 14. Stephen Pfahler (St. Joseph) 17:16, 15. Sam Sly (Gull Lake) 17:16

Niles placers
18. Sam Vandenheede 17:23
58. Michael Geiger 18:47
79. Daniel Sierra 19:42
80. Nicholas Borkowski 19:45
84. Ryan Roberts 20:02
87. Sean Morgan 20:15
95. Daulton Britton 21:23