Full 2014 Hiawatha Cross Country Invitational results -- click here

It was a beautiful day to run on Thursday and multiple area teams, along with a few others meet up in Hiawatha to compete against each other at the annual Hiawatha cross country Invitational and it proved to provide some close battles in both the girl's and boy's competitions.

In the girl's competition two of the top runners in the State competed against each other as Hiawatha's, Jordan Puvogel and Atchison's, Sarah Jaloma squared off and gave everyone a show, as they were neck-and-neck down to the wire with Puvogel edging out Jaloma by just over a second to claim the win with a time of 14:56.41. Puvogel broke her own school record in the process of the win, while Jaloma flew past her recent times this year posting a time of 14:57.50.

The girls’ team finishes went one and two just like the individuals as Hiawatha behind four Top 10 finishers took home first place and Atchison followed in second place, while ACCHS rounded out the top three team finishes. The rest of the girls’ team finishes came out with Savannah fourth, Falls City fifth, Sabetha sixth, Holton seventh and Nemaha Central eighth.

On the boys side the close competition came in the team finish as Falls City edged the host Hiawatha by just two points to claim first place, finishing with 66 points, while the Red Hawks tallied 68. Third place was also decided by two-points as Sabetha edged out Nemaha Central for third, giving the Thunder fourth. The rest of the boys’ team finishes came out with Atchison fifth, Holton sixth, Savannah seventh, ACCHS eighth and Horton ninth.

While, individually it was Pawnee City's Jack McCulloh running away with the race posting a time of 16:53.94, to win by over 28 seconds. Sabetha's Keegan Cox and Hiawatha's Brandt Houk duked it out for second and third finishing with times of 17:22.28 and 17:27.69, respectively for second and third place.

Multiple area teams had great performances on the day as perhaps Hiawatha led the way from top to bottom in both the girl's and boy's competitions combined. After Puvogel, three other lady Red Hawks finished in the Top 10 as Molly Kettler placed sixth (16:28.66), Aly Shamburg notched a seventh place showing (16:44.59) and Courtney Brockhoff finished 10th (16:51.18). While, two more girl's finished in the Top 20 as Emma Williams placed 17th (17:23.46) and Kailey Davis finished 19th (17:29.12). On the boy's side two more Red Hawks grabbed Top 20 showing behind Houk, as Jesse Quinn finished eighth with a time of 18:30.50 and Gavin Lierz finisehd 18th (19:20.62).

The Atchison Redman were led by the showing of Sarah Jaloma but three of her teammates grabbed Top 20 finishes, too helping the girls’ team to a second place finish. Emily Jaloma finished ninth behind a time of 16:50.69, while Hailey Macierowski and Lyndi Hanson placed 14th and 16th with times of 17:10.94 and 17:20.34. Matthew Sowers and Justin Whitmer grabbed Top 20 finishes in the boy's competition for the Redman placing 12th (18:50.06) and 16th (19:15.72), respectively.

For the Falls City Tigers the boy's ran their way to a first place performance with five Top 20 finishers, with Kyle Leafty leading the way with his fifth place performance behind a time of 17:53.38. His teammates, Brandon Gibson, Anthony Baker, Brett Black and Brody Smith finished 14th (19:04.72), 17th (19:17.87), 19th (19:21.15) and 20th (19:26.15), respectively. Lainey Larsen had the only lady Tigers Top 20 showing as she finished eighth behind a time of 16:45.87.

Sabetha Bluejays ran to a third place boys’ team finish, as they were led by Keegan Cox's second place finish, but Corbin Cox also finished in the Top 10 as he finished sixth with a time of 17:54.40. While, Taryn Schuette and Miranda Huettner finished 12th (17:00.94) and 18th (17:26.90) in the girl's race.

The ACCHS Tigers were led by a fourth place finish by Madison Bissell in the girl's race as she posted a time of (16:11.50) to help the lady Tigers to a third place team finish. Beba Scholz and Maddison Forbes joined Bissell in the Top 20 as Scholz took home 11th place (16:56.22) and Forbes placed 13th (17:04.62). On the boy's side it was Jack Siebert pacing the way for the Tigers with a fourth place finish behind a time of 17:48.81.

Nemaha Central Thunder finished with two Top 10 finishers both in the boys competition as Mikeal Sperfslage notched a seventh place finish with a time of 18:08.22 and Colin Lierz finished 10th behind a time of 18:40.24.

Perry Lecompton grabbed multiple Top 20 finishes on the day with Lexia Jamison leading the way finishing third in the girl's race with a time of 16:04.09, while in the boy's race Bjorn Funk finished 13th with a time of 18:56.12.

Holton also had a Top 20 showing at the Hiawatha Invitational as Tristan Parks finished in the Top 10, taking home ninth place with a time of 18:35.97.