ST. JOSEPH — The St. Joe Bears easily captured both ends of the Berrien County Cross Country Meet Saturday at Riverview Park.

The Bears took the boys title with 19 points. Watervliet was second with 73 and Bridgman third with 92.

Brandywine finished eighth and Niles 10th.

The Lady Bears won with 29 points. Watervliet was second and Niles third with 75 and 96 points respectively.

Ellie Burck placed seventh overall in the girls race with a time of 21:05 to lead the Vikings.

“We had a very successful day considering three girls who have run varsity were out due to injuries or sickness,” Niles coach Jami Foster said. “It was our best showing of the season and many girls had personal bests again. I put a lot of pressure on our top runners to make up for the missing varisty runs.

“Ellie Burck, Abby Gaines, Chelsea Best and Meygan Rudlaff all had a PR and medaled for the team. Kylee Meyer had a great run as well. These five girls are the reason that the team took home a trophy.”

 

Berrien County Meet

at Riverview Park

Boys team scores

1. St. Joseph 19; 2. Watervliet 73; 3. Bridgman 92; 4. New Buffalo 143; 5. Berrien Springs 164; 6. Lakeshore 171; 7. Coloma 195; 8. Brandywine 197; 9. Eau Claire 202; 10. Niles 223; 11. (tie) Buchanan, Lake Michigan Catholic, River Valley DNF

 

Top 20 finishers

1. Charlie Felton (St. Joseph) 16:09.2; 2. Cameron Bredice (Bridgman) 16:24.3; 3. Skyler Arthur (St. Joseph) 16:37.7; 4. Nick Jewell (St. Joseph) 16:50.2; 5. Stephen Pfahler (St. Joseph) 16: 53.3; 6. Tanner Rydieski (St. Joseph) 16:54.5; 7. Brendan Daly (Watervliet) 17:02.0; 8. Erik Edwards (St. Joseph) 17:05.8; 9. Kamren English (New Buffalo) 17:19.9; 10. Michael Foote (Watervliet) 17:23.6; 11. Michael Robbins (Brandywine) 17:28.9; 12. Miles Kelleher (St. Joseph) 17:31.1; 13. Elliott Hanke (Bridgman) 17:32.2; 14. Patrick Cecil (Lake Michigan Catholic) 17:32.4; 15. Brandon Owen (Bridgman) 17:37.2; 16. Steven Foster (Berrien Springs) 17:38.1; 17. Alex Woerdehoff (New Buffalo) 17:39.4; 18. Brock Thumm (Watervliet) 17:46.2; 19. James Harrell (Brandywine) 17:46.5; 20. T.J. Hoffman (Watervliet) 17:46.9

 

Brandywine results

11. Michael Robbins 17:28; 19. James Harrell 17:46; 59. Jushua Youngs 20:36; 78. Evan Zacharski 21:56; 99. Gabe Clements 26:03

 

Niles results

35. Charles Leonard 18:53; 46. Gaige Nichols 19:34; 50. Brenden Hall 19:53; 66. Chris Ahlgrim 20:57; 73. Lane Wells 21:31; 83. Stingray Jaynes 22:21; 85. Christopher Frantz 22:24; 87. Brenden Meek 22:43; 97. Oskar Olalde 25:14

 

Girls team scores

1. St. Joseph 29; 2. Watervliet 75; 3. Niles 96; 4. Lakeshore 101; 5. Lake Michigan Catholic 151; 6. Bridgman 176; 7. Coloma 181; 8. Berrien Springs 195; 9. New Buffalo 204; 10. (tie) Brandywine, Buchanan, Eau Claire DNF

 

Top 25 finishers

1. Jessie Armstrong (St. Joseph) 20:04.3; 2. Mara McFarland (Berrien Springs) 20:13.6; 3. Natalie Hepburn (St. Joseph) 20:24.7; 4. Vanessa Veersma (St. Joseph) 20:25.6; 5. Gabby Tavolacci (Watervliet) 20:25.9; 6. Lindsay Ebeling (Lakeshore) 20:37.6; 7. Ellie Burck (Niles) 21:05.7; 8. Mary Wheeler (Bridgman) 21:07.9; 9. Eve O’Halloran (New Buffalo) 21:15.0; 10. Sarah Corbe (St. Joseph) 21:25.8; 11. Natalie Whise (St. Joseph) 21:38.0; 12. Abigail Gaines (Niles) 21:42.3; 13. Brittney Johnson (Watervliet) 21:42.6; 14. Megan Buckingham (St. Joseph) 21:53.2; 15. Maya Fitzstephens (St. Joseph) 21:54.0; 16. Darbie Jones (Watervliet) 21:54.0; 17. Mariah Rifenberg (St. Joseph) 22:00.1: 18. Sonal Jain (St. Joseph) 22:01.4; 19. Jacquelyn Frazier (Lakeshore) 22:03.4; 20. Sydney Sample (Coloma) 22:09.5

 

Niles results

7. Ellie Burck 21:05; 11. Abigail Gaines 21:42; 21. Chelsea Best 22:31; 23. Meygan Rudlaff 22:45; 34. Kylee Meyer 24:18; 36. Hannah Jackowiak 24:21; 44. Jessica Akey 26:24; 67. Natalie Swailes 26:41; 90. Danielle Villa 30:03

 

Brandywine results

70. Emily Pedzinski 27:08; 96. Katelinn Rose 33:30; 98. Katlyn Metz 33:56