The Chillicothe Invitational finally delivered the cooler racing conditions the Hornets had been waiting for, and the results followed with numerous personal records and several strong team finishes.
Chillicothe’s varsity boys finished second by just three points among 14 full teams. Four Hornets earned medals in a field of 100 runners, led by Zeph O’Berry in 11th place with a time of 18:15. Spencer Johansen finished 15th in 18:33.3, Brody Norris was 16th in 18:33.8, and Layton Baker placed 21st in 18:58.
Sophie Hurtgen was the lone varsity girls medalist, finishing 18th in 24:28. Chillicothe competed with only three varsity girls due to injury and illness.
The JV boys captured the team championship, led by Bentley Lauhoff in fourth place at 21:14. Elijah Caselman finished eighth in 22:18, while Sam Saale was ninth in 22:32.
The middle school boys finished second as a team, with Jace Brotherton placing fourth. Kaden McKinstry narrowly missed a medal by less than two seconds.
The middle school girls also turned in an impressive performance despite having just four runners. All four finished in the top 10 in the 1.6-mile race. Tinley Lauhoff placed third, Evie Keiffer was sixth, Jaycee Dickson finished eighth and Nella Beetsma was 10th. All four runners came through the one-mile mark between 7:05 and 7:10.
The meet featured 390 registered runners from 26 teams at Simpson Park in Chillicothe. The Hornets recorded 13 medals, a JV team championship and second-place finishes for the varsity boys and middle school boys.
The Chillicothe cross country program also thanks the community for its support in hosting the invitational, noting that the meet ran smoothly because of the help from everyone involved.