NTL / IAC BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: HICKS, DELINGER PACE ATHENS IN FOURTH-PLACE FINISH AT OWEGO INVITE (5 PHOTOS) (2022-09-24)
TIOGA PLACES SIXTH IN SMALL SCHOOL; ATHENS WINS LARGE SCHOOL MODIFIED TITLE
Valley Sports ReportOWEGO — Sophomore Ethan Hicks and senior Ethan Denlinger both turned in top-10 performances to lead Athens to a fourth-place finish in the Large School Division here Saturday morning at the Owego Cross Country Invitational.
“We were really happy with how today went, the kids ran well in very competitive, deep fields,” said Athens coach Mike Bronson. “We had a lot of kids run PRs or near PRs. Today showed we are making progress.”
Vestal won the team title with 35 placement points, while runner-up Union-Endicott had 69 points, Owego accumulated 77 points, and Athens tallied 124 points. Horseheads was fifth with 129 points.
Hicks finished ninth in a time of 17:25.8, and Denlinger was 10th in 17:28.2, while junior Nate Prickitt was 29th in 18:58.9, sophomore Ronel Ankam was 36th in 19:18.6, and freshman Sam Sensing was 46th in 20:36.0
Sophomore Aiden Oldroyd (22:18.8) and freshman Caleb Simwale (22:37.0) finished 53rd and 54th, respectively.
Small School DivisionTioga placed sixth in the Small School Division race, while Waverly had just one runner compete.
Senior Thomas Hurd led the Tigers with a 27th-place finish in a time of 19:24.1, while sophomore Andrew Earley was 30th in 19:37, and freshman Talon Wood was 38th in 20:14.0.
Freshman Owen Seaver was 69th for Tioga in a time of 22:57.3, and junior Casey Herrala was 80th in 27:48.0.
Sophomore Braylon DeKay finished 72nd in a time of 23:24.6 for Waverly.
MODIFIED BOYS
Large School DivisionAthens’ top five runners all finished in the top nine as the Wildcats ran away with the Large School Division team title.
Athens tallied 23 placement points, well ahead of runner-up Union-Endicott’s 67 points. Horseheads was third with 71 points, Owego fourth with 83 points, and Maine-Endwell was fifth with 91 points.
Graham Wanck won the race by more than a minute, clocking in at 8:46, while Athens’ Eli Hicks was runner-up at 9:48.
Jacob Shores finished fifth in a time of 10:08, while Matt Rosette was seventh in 10:12, and Zach Fisher was ninth in 10:36.
Darious Miller was 22nd for Athens in 11:40,, while Isaac Roy was 30th in 12:32, and Johnny Roberts was 39th in 14:33.
Small School DivisionWaverly finished sixth in the Small School Division race, led by Chase Hine, who placed 13th in a time of 11:02.
Hayden Montanye finished 33rd for the junior Wolverines in a time of 12:39, while Trent Van-Heusen was 36th in 12:44, Mark Myers was 53rd in 16:26, and Logan Robinson was 57th in 16:55.
