Grady Stephenson and NorthWood boys cross country earned a team title at the New Haven Invite on Saturday. InkFreeNews file photo by Mike Deak

Panthers Claim 2-A Title At New Haven

NorthWood put together a nice showing Saturday at the New Haven Invitational at Huntington University.

The Panthers finished first in the Class 2-A, scoring 62 points to best runner-up South Bend Riley by 30 points for the title. Leading the team were a trio of Panthers coming to the line in near identical times, Jordan Burden eighth overall at 17:15, with Brady Hunsberger at 17:16 and Grady Stephenson at 17:17 to take ninth and tenth overall.

Also running in the Class 2-A race were Wawasee, which were 13th as a team, and Tippecanoe Valley, placing 21st.

The Warriors were led by Karlson Hand in 21st at 17:42, Camden Powell in 25th at 17:54 and Senate Shaw in 84th at 19:01 as its top three.

The Vikings had Matthew Howes place 22nd at 17:48, and next seeing Chase Miller (19:29, 105) and Evan Myers (20:23, 153) cross the line.

The NorthWood girls were 10th in the their grid. Kaitlin Burden earned a top-10 finish with a run of 20:38. Emilie Allen (22:48, 56) and Jenna Markham (22:51, 58) were top three Panthers.

Wawasee scored a 15th place finish, its top three were Ella Beezley (22:39, 45), Lily Tyler (22:44, 52) and Alyssa Smith (24:03, 95).

Tippecanoe Valley had just four girls active and didn’t register a team score. It’s top three were Chesnee Miller (21:41, 30), Ella Myers (24:48, 115) and Talia Holder (25:35, 138).