The Kosciusko boys cross country team finished eighth with a score of 192 in the first meet of the season, the French Camp Invitational.
Cole Wilson was the top Whippet runner, finishing 16th in a field of 107 with a time of 20:57.27 for five kilometers (3.1 miles). He was followed by Matthew Nail 51st (22:38.96), Grayson Blaylock 52nd (23:44.90), Michael Phinisee 64th (24:09.98), Tuff Shaw 68th (24:42.61), Colton Thorpe 70th ( 24:55.46) and Alexis Hernandez (25:54.83).
Phinisee is the only senior. Wilson, Blaylock, Shaw and Hernandez are sophomores, Nail and Thorne freshmen.
Clinton won the boys race with a team score of 16 to 75 for runnerup Warren Central and 109 for French Camp in third. Clinton had the first four runners, led by J.T. Rice with a clocking of 18:03.77. Ayden Watkins was French Camp's top runner, finishing 11th in 20:20.85.
Kosciusko had only one runner in the girls race and therefore did not have a team score. Freshman Anna Lauren Watts was 60th with a time of 32:13. Two runners missed the meet because of illness and one because of an injury.
French Camp, the defending 1A state champion, edged Clinton for the team title 28 to 30. Both teams had four runners in the top eight, led by French Camp sophomore Lucy Littlejohn, the race winner in 20:15, more than a minute and a half ahead of runnerup Evelyn Mata-O'Dwyer of Clinton.
Kosciusko coach Emily Martin said the “best moment of the day” came in the boys junior high meet. Ezra Keeton, a seventh grader, was Kosciusko's only runner. “Several of the high school boys, and even some of the junior high girls, ran along side of him, cheering him on, because he had been out sick.”
Keeton finished 30th with a time of 16:50.77 for two miles.
Kosciusko took second behind Clinton in the junior high girls meet with four runners in the top 20. Lainey Greenlee was 13th (16:28,55), Dianna Hernandez 16th (16:46.25), Kiara Tran 17th (16:48.11) and Ashari Winters 19th (16:52.97).
Kosciusko's next two meets will be at Choctaw Trails in Clinton, site of the 4A state meet November 5. The Whippets and Lady Whippets will compete in the MRA Invitational September 19 and the Clinton Arrow Invitational September 24.
Martin said the experience will benefit runners for the state meet. “It helps the kids to get to know the course and will give them a good idea of where they need to be time wise at each mile marker.”
