By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – The LaPorte (Ind.) Slicers continued to dominate at the Dowagiac cross country course.
The Slicers returned to Dowagiac for a third time and won the Edwardsburg Invitational on Saturday.
LaPorte scored 53 points in the combined team scoring to easily defeat runner-up Vicksburg, which finished with 79 points. Bangor was third with 128 points, while Sturgis was fourth (146) and Plainwell fifth (154).
Niles finished sixth with 164 points. Rounding out the team finishers were Delton-Kellogg (177), Mendon (196), Lawton (296) and Brandywine (303).
Four races were held on Saturday with the top two finishers in each race for each school counting toward the team score.
Races were made up of freshmen-sophomores and junior-seniors for both boys and girls.
Vicksburg won the girls' division with 29 points, while LaPorte was second with 31 points. Kalamazoo Hackett won the boys' division with 19 points. LaPorte was second with 22.
Niles finished third in the girls' divison, while Edwardsburg was sixth.
Niles took 12th in the boys' division, while Brandywine was 13th and Dowagiac 15th.
Molly Waterhouse of Vicksburg won the girls' junior-senior race with a time of 19:48.
Ann Arseneau won the freshmen-sophomore race with a time of 19:21.
Niles' Sam Brawley was third in the junior-senior race with a time of 20:35. Liz VandenHeede was fifth with a clocking of 21:43. Madie Rodts was fourth in the freshmen-sophomore race for the Lady Vikings with a time of 20:29.
Sarah Crabtree finished 21st in the freshmen-sophomore race for the Lady Vikings, while Allie Hoyt was 35th.
Brandywine's Nicole Newman placed 39th.
In the junior-senior race, Niles' Autumn Grayson finished 14th, Sarah Tyler 26th and Bree Donohoe 32nd.
Brandywine's Ashley Harrell finished 12th.
Matt Miller of LaPorte edged teammate Mike Fout by one second in the boys' junior-senior race. Miller ran 16:02 and Fout, a winner earlier this year on the Dowagiac course, ran 16:03.
Jay Marshall of Sturgis was the winner of the freshmen-sophomore race with a time of 16:59. Niles' Mark Calhoun finished fourth with a time of 17:32.
In the freshmen-sophomore race, Brandywine's Elliott Richards finished 28th.
In the junior-senior race, Niles got a 24th place finish from Brett Ortiz, while Brandywine's Tyler Weeden finished 38th.
Combined Team Scores
LaPorte 53, Vicksburg 79, Bangor 128, Sturgis 146, Plainwell 154, Niles 164, Delton-Kellogg 177, Mendon 196, Lawton 296, Brandywine 303.
Girls' Team Scores
Vicksburg 29, LaPorte 31, Niles 33, Sturgis 56, Delton-Kellogg 56, Edwardsburg 80, Plainwell 80, Lawton 97, Mendon 97, Bangor 97.
Boys' Team Scores
Kalamazoo Hackett 19, LaPorte 22, Bangor 30, Vicksburg 50, Berrien Springs 62, Coldwater 73, Plainwell 74, Sturgis 90, Mendon 99, Paw Paw 103, Delton-Kellogg 118, Niles 134, Brandywine 194, Lawton 199, Dowagiac 236.
Freshmen-Sophomore Girls' Top 10
1. Ann Arseneau (Sturgis) 19:21, 2. Alex Keyser (Sturgis) 19:59, 3. Mary Boyde (Sturgis) 20:24, 4. Maddie Rodts (Niles) 20:29, 5. Megan Pearson (Paw Paw) 21:16, 6. Aisha Hodge (Bangor) 21:17, 7. Bailey Windle (Vicksburg) 21:18, 8. Mindy Lewis (Vicksburg) 21:59, 9. Katie Gross (LaPorte) 22:04, 10. Jenna Ruimveld (Vicksburg) 22:06.
Junior-Senior Girls' Top 10
1. Molly Waterhouse (Vicksburg) 19:48, 2. Becca Kuehn (LaPorte) 20:34, 3. Sam Brawley (Niles) 20:35, 4. Nicole Komasinski (LaPorte) 21:36, 5. Liz VandenHeede (Niles) 21:43, 6. Becky Miller (Berrien Springs) 21:53, 7. Mandy Dye (Delton-Kellogg) 22:09, 8. Rachel Moreland (Lawton) 22:15, 9. Rachel Williams (Delton-Kellogg) 22:19, 10. Michelle Price (LaPorte) 22:20.
Freshmen-Sophomore Boys' Top 10
1. Jay Marshall (Sturgis) 16:59, 2. Brendon Molony (Kalamazoo Hackett) 17:20, 3. Mark Beams (Vicksburg) 17:24, 4. Mark Calhoun (Niles) 17:32, 5. David Watson (Bangor) 17:33, 6. Eric Thompson (Bangor) 17:41, 7. Kam Mills (Sturgis) 17:55, 8. Josh Jones (LaPorte) 17:57, 9. Alex Hess (Kalamazoo Hackett) 18:04, 10. Nick Rendon (Delton-Kellogg) 18:05.
Junior-Senior Boys' Top 10
1. Matt Miller (LaPorte) 16:02, 2. Mike Fout (LaPorte) 16:03, 3. Andrew Breyer (Kalamazoo Hackett) 16:13, 4. Kiel Lovekin (LaPorte) 16:16, 5. Michael O'Brien (Kalamazoo Hackett) 16:30, 6. Tyler Toll (LaPorte) 16:35, 7. Chris Ryan (Vicksburg) 16:54, 8. Andrew Fuentes (Bangor) 16:58, 9. Corbin Slater (LaPorte) 17:05, 10. Taylor Polzin (Sturgis) 17:09.