Big 8 XC Recap: Union City girls take win in first conference jamboree

SPRINGPORT, MI. — The whole of the Big 8 conference traveled to Springport High School on Tuesday for the first Big 8 Cross Country Jamboree of the season.In the men’s portion of the competition it was a familiar team atop the standings as it was Jonesville taking the win, however a team that has not seen the top of the Big 8 standings in quite some time took home the win in the women’s division.The upstart Union City Lady Chargers, who have quietly put together an amazing start to the 2022 season, finished in first place in the first Big 8 jamboree of the season, besting the field with a score of 54 points. Concord finished in second place with 67 points, followed by Quincy in third place with 86 points. Homer took fourth with 94 points, followed by Bronson in fifth with 117 points. Jonesville took sixth, with Reading in seventh place and Springport in eighth place.Union City’s win came thanks to their depth and their consistency, as all five scorers finished in the top 15, with three of those five taking top 10 spots. Leading the way for Union City was sophomore Skyler Fraley who finished in fifth place overall in a time of 22 minutes, 25.20 seconds. Not far behind was freshman teammate Murcie Wallen who finished in sixth place in a time of 22 minutes, 29.35 seconds while sophomore teammate Alissa Skirka also ran her way to a top 10 finish, finishing in tenth place with a time of 22 minutes, 51.06 seconds. Rounding out the Charger effort was Kyla Burdick in thirteenth place in a time of 23 minutes, 16.34 seconds and Elizabeth Arlt in fourteenth place in a time of 23 minutes, 32.82 seconds.Quincy’s third place effort was paced by three runners in the top 20, with two of those finishing in the top 10. Leading the Quincy effort was sophomore Charlotte Crabbs who finished in eighth place overall in a time of 22 minutes, 39.33 seconds, while one spot behind was freshman teammate Brookelyn Parker who finished in ninth place in a time of 22 minutes, 46.70 seconds. Junior Sadie Miller also finished in the top 20, crossing the line in twelfth place in a time of 23 minutes, 2.94 seconds.Rounding out the Oriole scoring was Elizabeth Craig in twenty-fifth place in a time of 25 minutes, 52.97 seconds and Kaylyn Brenner in twenty-eighth place in a time of 26 minutes, 10.98 seconds. Finishing out the Quincy effort twas Brooke McVicker, thirty-third place; Kailey Allman, thirty-fourth place; and Abby Miller, forty-fourth place.

Despite finishing in fifth place as a team, the Bronson Vikings did bring home the top two spots in the individual race, with sophomore Ava Hathaway out running the field for the gold medal, winning the first Big 8 Jamboree in a time of 20 minutes, 47.07 seconds. Crossing the line in second place was freshman teammate Ashlynn Harris who took runner-up honors in a time of 21 minutes, 23.49 seconds.Rounding out the Bronson scoring effort was Abbi Ferry in twenty-seventh place in a time of 26 minutes, 7.05 seconds; Kiera Kiser in fortieth place in a time of 28 minutes, 13.54 seconds; and Mackenna Webster in forty-fifth place in a time of 31 minutes, 48.84 seconds.In the men’s competition it was indeed a familiar face in Jonesville winning the event with a score of 54 points, followed by Concord in second place with 67 points. Homer finished third with 86 points, while Union City finished in fourth place with 94 points. Reading took fifth place at 117 points, followed by Bronson in sixth with 129 points, Quincy in seventh with 144 points, and Springport in eighth with 224 points.The Union City Chargers led the local trio of teams with their fourth place finish, a finish paced by two top 10 finishes. Leading the way for the Chargers was freshman Ben Gautsche who finished in fourth place overall in a time of 17 minutes, 35.69 seconds, a personal best for the rookie. Finishing in sixth place was sophomore Jason Shoop who also notched a personal best time, crossing the line in a time of 17 minutes, 53.30 seconds. Finishing up the scoring for Union City was Malachi Payne in twenty-seventh place in a time of 19 minutes, 49.75 seconds; Montana Connell in thirty-fifth place in a time of 20 minutes, 45.12 seconds; and Aidan Taylor in thirty-sixth place in a time of 20 minutes, 51.67 seconds.Rounding out the Union City effort was Cohen Burdick in thirty-ninth place; Maddox Miller in forty-fifth place; Mason Hawthorne in forty-seventh place; Max Bigelow in fiftieth place; and Jonas Burdick in fifty-seventh place.The Bronson Vikings finished in sixth place as a team and were paced by two top 10 finishes. Leading the way for Bronson was senior Aden Hathaway who finished in fifth place overall in a time of 17 minutes, 52.75 seconds, while senior teammate Ashton Wells took eighth place overall in a time of 18 minutes, 14.60 seconds. Finishing off the scoring effort for Bronson was Tyler Wilber in twentieth place in a time of 19 minutes, 13.90 seconds; Tanner Norton in twenty-first place in a time of 19 minutes, 17.20 seconds; and Perry Lake in twenty-sixth place in a time of 19 minutes, 46.90 seconds.Rounding out the Bronson effort was Hugo Barajas, twenty-eighth place; Drew Seekman, thirty-second place; Jacob Britten, thirty-fourth place; Nicholas Cranson, thirty-seventh place; Jason Greenfield, forty-first place; Phoenix Haviland, forty-sixth place; Derk Zitting, forty-ninth place; and Jason Wickey, fifty-sixth place.The Quincy Orioles continue to build their depth and get healthy as they finished in seventh place as a team in the first Big 8 jamboree. Quincy had one runner finish in the top 10 as senior Rhett Reif took seventh place overall in a time of 18 minutes, 10.13 seconds. Also earning a top 20 finish was the second half of Reif squared as Jacob Reif took thirteenth place in a time of 18 minutes, 59.,05 seconds. Rounding out the Quincy effort was Caden Troxtle in forty-third place in a time of 21 minutes, 16.91 seconds and Nathan Richer in fifty-second place in a time of 23 minutes, 48.86 seconds.Taking the individual win in the men’s race was Reading senior Tyler Bays who finished in first place with a blistering time of 16 minutes, 38.77 seconds.The second Big 8 cross country jamboree of the season will take place next Tuesday at Union City.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Big 8 XC Recap: Union City girls take win in first conference jamboree