PORTAGE — Chris Gantt became Dowagiac’s first regional cross country champion Saturday morning as he took the in the early stages of the Division 3 race at Portage West Middle School and then held off all challengers.

Gantt, a senior, posted a time of 16:45, which was five seconds better than runner-up Brian Larabel of Bloomingdale who ran a 16:51.

“Chris took the lead well before the mile mark and ran a very strong race from there,” Dowagiac coach Ken Jordan said. “He is our first individual regional cross country champ in my 20 years in the program and maybe even ever. He put himself in a position to have a very special state meet.”

Dowagiac finished 10 overall as a team. Watervliet picked up the team title with 56 points, while Lakeland Conference champion Bridgman was second with 87. Schoolcraft, Delton-Kellogg and Hartford rounded out the top five.

The girls’ team championship went to Delton-Kellogg with 49 points. Parchment was second with 57. Schoolcraft, Hartford and Coloma rounded out the top five.

Dowagiac’s top finisher was Holly Luth, who placed 28th with a time of 22:50.

“Holly Luth had a fantastic day for us,” Jordan said. “You have to go back seven years for a girl to have run a faster race.”

In Division 2, Niles’ Sam VandenHeede finished 13th overall and qualified for the state finals at Michigan International Speedway Saturday. VandenHeede ran a time of 16:51.

St. Joseph was the boys’ team winner with 25 points. Gull Lake was second with 83, while Vicksburg, Otsego and South Haven rounded out the top five finishers. Niles finished 13th.

Edwardsburg freshmen Aubrey Ritchey finished eighth overall in the girls’ race with a time of 19:32 to earn a spot in the state finals.

The Eddies finished 11th as a team, while the Vikings were 14th.

Divsion 2 Cross Country Regional

At Portage

Boys’ results
Team scores

1. St. Joseph 25; 2. Gull Lake 83; 3. Vicksburg 83; 4. Otsego 92; 5. South Haven 145; 6. Three Rivers 185; 7. Lakeshore 258; 8. Holland 260; 9. Holland Christian 272; 10. Hamilton 287; 11. Plainwell 208; 12. Paw Paw 324; 13. Niles 336; 14. Allegan 360; 15. Edwardsburg 373

Top 15

1. Joey Fici (Vicksburg) 16:03.1; 2. David Berry (St. Joseph) 16:12.2; 3. Ryan Leahy (St. Joseph) 16:18.1; 4. Danny Hughes (Vicksburg) 16:25.1; 5. Charlie Felton (St. Joseph) 16:27.5; 6. Evan Hendrix (South Haven) 16:33.0; 7. Joseph Beemer (St. Joseph) 16:33.5; 8. Nick Whise (St. Joseph) 16:36.9; 9. Tyler Starr (Otsego) 16:46.4; 10. Sam Butler (Gull Lake) 16:47.3; 11. Stephen Pfahler (St. Joseph) 16:49.5; 12. Dallas Chase (Gull Lake) 16:50.2; 13. Sam Vandenheede (Niles) 16:51.3; 14. Ian Everitt (South Haven) 16:54.7; 15. Bryan Harvey (Otsego) 16:55.1

Niles results

13. Sam VandenHeede 16:51; 59. Michael Geiger 18:51; 83, Sean Morgan 19:51; 88. Daniel Sierra 20:07; 93. Daulton Britton 20:30; 94. Ryan Roberts 20:35; 104. Nicholas Borkowski

Edwardsburg results

35. Ben Getz 17:56; 81. Evan VanBelle 19:49; 82. Andrew VanKirk 19:50; 84. Jordan Bosse 19:52; 91. Brandon Parsons 20:25; 92. D.J. Bosse 20:28; 95. Ben Peak 20:37

Girls’ results
Team scores

1. Hamilton 79; 2. Gull Lake 83; 3. Plainwell 90; 4. St. Joseph 123; 5. Vicksburg 141; 6. Holland Christian 176; 7. Paw Paw 178; 8. Otsego 192; 9. South Haven 192; 10. Allegan 249; 11. Edwardsburg 296; 12. Three Rivers 315; 13. Lakeshore 367; 14. Niles 376; 15. Holland 398

Top 15

1. Molly Oren (Hamilton) 18:28.4; 2. Emily Oren (Hamilton) 18;43.4; 3. Gabrielle Perrin (Vicksburg) 18:52.7; 4. Makenzie Evers (Plainwell) 19:00.2; 5. Cathy Coryell (Hamilton) 19:10.2; 6. Hayley Buckhout (Gull Lake) 19:26.4; 7. Grace Carver (South Haven) 19:30.9; 8. Aubrey Ritchey (Edwardsburg) 19:32.8; 9. Haley Betts (Plainwell) 19:41.7; 10. Jessica Shaw (Allegan) 19:43.6; 11. Kayla DePierre (Paw Paw) 19:45.9; 12. Rachel Bendewald (St. Joseph) 19:49.9; 13. Hannah VanRees (Holland Christian) 19:51.2; 14. Grace Katt (South Haven) 19:51.8; 15. Mikayla Hostetler (Gull Lake) 19:55.8.

Niles results

62. Anne Tyler 22:24; 66. Bridgett Carpenter 22:28; 75. Libby Hein 23:04; 86. Abigail Gaines 24:05; 87. Maureen Craig 24:22; 93. Ava McKeel 24:50; 99. Allison Grant 25:56

Edwardsburg results

8. Aubrey Ritchey 19:33; 56. Gianna Haller 22:01; 63. Brittany Udell 22:26; 80. Isabelle Peak 23:23; 89. Miranda Bronicki 24:41; 96. Hannah Baylor 25:28; 98. Brittany Portwood 25:41

Division 3

At Portage

Boys’ results

Team Scores

1. Watervliet 56; 2. Bridgman 87; 3. Schoolcraft 95; 4. Delton-Kellogg 111; 5. Hartford 142; 6. Bangor 144; 7. Parchment 175; 8. Bloomingdale 185; 9. Berrien Springs 249; 10. Dowagiac 261; 11. Constantine 281; 12. Fennville 291; 13. Comstock 305

Top 15

1. Chris Gantt (Dowagiac) 16:46.6; 2. Brian Larabel (Bloomingdale) 16:51.0; 3. Zach Wehner (Schoolcraft) 17:05.7; 4. Brock Thumm (Watervliet) 17:15.8; 5. Ryan Watson (Delton-Kellogg) 17:16.3; 6. Kirk Love (Watervliet) 17:18.5; 7. Cameron Bredice (Bridgman) 17:18.9; 8. Jarret Anderson (Bridgman) 17:22.3; 9. Justin Kiewel (Bridgman) 17:34.0; 10. Jon Phillips (Hartford) 17:38.0; 11. Michael Foote (Watervliet) 17:42.4; 12. Mark Cornett (Watervliet) 17:42.8; 13. Brandon Enders (Bridgman) 17:44.9; 14. Dave Jones (Constantine) 17:48.3; 15. Austin Ketola (Delton-Kellogg) 17:51.0

Dowagiac finishers

1. Chris Gantt 16:47; 46. Marc Tyrakowski 19:24; 63. Ryne Wilming 20:18; 72. Ben Thompson 20:35; 79. Dylan Chorba 21:48; 80. Seth Morris 21:51; 84. Sean Thompson 23:24

Girls’ results

Team scores

1. Delton-Kellogg 49; 2. Parchment 57; 3. Schoolcraft 73; 4. Hartford 129; 5. Coloma 129; 6. Bangor 150; 7. Bridgman 157; 8. Berrien Springs 208; 9. Watervliet 221; 10. Buchanan 247; 11. Dowagiac 272; 12. Fennville 314

Top 15

1. Kate Thayer (Parchment) 19:50.8; 2. Madeline Hartlieb (Schoolcraft) 19:58.5; 3. Sarah Hartlieb (Schoolcraft) 20:16.7; 4. Jolene Drum (Delton-Kellogg) 20:22.7; 5. Laura Nordquist (Parchment) 20:23.7; 6. Taylor Hillard (Parchment) 20:34.8; 7. Christi Boze (Delton-Kellogg) 20:47.0; 8. Kaisa Ala’Venna (Coloma) 20:57.8; 9. Heidi Conrad (Coloma) 21:05.3; 10. Jessica Nave (Berrien Springs) 21:11.8; 11. Brianna Russell (Delton-Kellogg) 21:26.9; 12. Marcie Stevens (Delton-Kellogg) 21:28.5; 13. Sarah Melton (Hartford) 21:39.6; 14. Heather Irish (Bloomingdale) 21:40.8; 15. Kelly Ferguson (Bridgman) 21:45.5

Dowagiac finishers

25. Holly Luth 2:51; 58. Kendra Wilson 25:41; 59. Sarah Long 25:43; 64. Kristina Bunn 26:38; 66. Rebecca Luth 27:15; 67. Kayla Yakim 27:18; 69. Paige Schaus 27:29