Led by a trio of top five finishers, the Edwardsburg cross country team edged Jenison for the RedBud Tri-State Invitational girl’s championship in Buchanan Saturday.

Jenison’s Tori VanderVeen grabbed the individual championship with a time of 20:13.

However, the Eddies took second, third and fourth en route to scoring 31 points. Jenison finished with 32 points. Niles finished fourth with 99 points.

Cameron Cleveland finished second with a time of 20:46.8, while Kara Shrider was third with a time of 20:58.5 and Sophia Mick fourth with a time of 21:05.9.

“I was very impressed with the team effort the girls displayed at the Redbud meet,” Edwardsburg coach Beth Gunn said. “Our top five (Cameron Cleveland, Kara Shrider, Sophia Mick, Chloe Bartz and Ryan Drew) all finished in the top 25 earning medals. All five ran a very competitive race from start to finish on a pretty challenging course.

“They started out aggressively and hung on to their positions the entire race, especially during the last mile of the race when Jenison was trying to challenge them at the end. We only won by one point, so holding on to those top five positions was absolutely critical to winning the meet and those girls did an amazing job running tough the entire race.”

Niles’ Kaylee Thompson finished 10th overall with a time of 21:53.5.

“I loved the fact that our runners were able to compete on the course that regionals will be held,” Niles girls cross country coach Jami Foster said. “I feel this helps prepare them mentally because it’s such a challenging course.

“Overall, I feel that the team ran well.  About 90 percent of the girls ran their fastest times of the year on the hardest course we have ran on this year. I was disappointed that Lakeshore beat us after beating them at the first West Division conference meet this past Wednesday. We have been going back and forth with them all season. The girls are beginning to understand that while they are improving their times, so are other teams and we need to continue to work hard every practice.”

Bridgman, led by individual champion Brian Njuguna, captured the boys championship with 36 points. Lakeshore was second with 39 points and Edwardsburg third with 52 points.

Brock Eaves led the Eddies with a fourth place finish and a time of 17:46.

“Brock Eaves had a great race earning top five honors and beat his time there last year by nearly a minute,” Gunn said. “He, too, ran a great race from start to finish and is doing a nice job leading the boys team. Clay Sidenbender, Calob Besaw and Killian Marshall all finished in the top 25 earning medals.”

Niles’ Devin Tomlinson finished second overall with a time of 17:01 while Weston Egar was eighth with a time of 19:11.

 

REDBUD TRI-STATE INVITATIONAL

At Buchanan

Boys results

Team scores

1. Bridgman 36; 2. Lakeshore 39; 3. Edwardsburg 52; Brandywine DNF, Buchanan DNF, Coloma DNF, Fennville DNF, Niles DNF, Berrien County Youth Track Club DNF.

 

Individual top 10

1. Brian Njuguna (BR) 16:29.5; 2. Devin Tomlinson (N) 17:01.5; 3. Kole Hanke (BR) 17:31.5; 4. Brock Eaves (E) 17:46.4; 5. Brandon Owen (BR) 17:58.5; 6. Cooper Clark (L) 18:32.9; 7. Kaleb Berry (L) 19:06.3; 8. Weston Egar (N) 19:11.6; 9. Matthew Beach (F) 19:16.7; 10. Casey Noack (L) 19:28.2.

 

Additional Edwardsburg finishers

11. Clay Sidenbender 19:29, 12 Calob Besaw 19:40, 22. Killian Marshall 20:32, 33. Cian Young 21:23, 43. Bryce Johnson 23:20.

 

Additional Niles finishers

18. Jacob Gaines 20:23, 39. Hunter Greenman 22:23.

 

Buchanan finishers

20. Garret Loller 20:27, 28. Michael Everett 21:08, 31. Kevin Frosh 21:15.

 

Brandywine finisher

45. Keegan Reith 23:58.

 

Girls results

Team scores

Edwardsburg 31; 2. Jenison 32; 3. Lakeshore 79; 4. Niles 88; 5. Bridgman 141; 6. Buchanan 179; 7. Coloma 203; Fennville DNF, Berrien County Youth Track Club DNF.

 

Individual top 10

1. Tori VanderVeen (J) 20:13.9; 2. Cameron Cleveland (E) 20:46.8; 3. Kara Shrider (E) 20:58.5; 4. Sophia Mick (E) 21:05.9; 5. Victoria Dobson (BC) 6. Amelia Topolinski (J) 21:19.6; 7. Macey Shotts (J) 21:27.5; 8. Lexi Kapla (J) 21:32.6; 9. Erin Lafrenz (L) 21:41; 10. Kaylee Thompson (N) 21:53.5.

 

Additional Edwardsburg finishers

11. Chloe Bart 22:07, 13. Ryan Drew 22:14, 45. Mallory Barnosky 24:31, 51. Cecilia Smith 24:48, 66. Megan Belcher 26:25, 71. Anna Cleveland 26:50, 85. Britni Rose 29:37.

 

Additional Niles finishers

15. Erica Lovett 22:21, 20, Taylor Altergott 22:38, 21. Madeline Stanton 22:59, 36. Kailey Skarbeck 24:14, 40. Kayla Lindsey 24:24, 42. Ally Crites 24:26, 46. Taylor Haboush 24:32, 57. Erin Thomas 25:21, 58. Hannah Jackowiak 25:27, 61. Ashley Shortman 25:57, 63. April Anderson 26:07, 69. Maeli Rogers 26:47, 73. Zoey Martin 27:04, Mackenzie Hall 27:11, 81. Leah Wetmore 28:37, 82. Oliva McIntosh 28:27.

 

Buchanan finishers

41. Emily Riley 24:25, 48. Jade Smith 24:39, 59. Kalie Schrum 25:32, 65. Samantha Swartz 26:23, 87. Sydney Bauer 31:45, 88. Carley Greaves 33:07.