Lexington girls win Odessa Invitational
By Jimmy Gillispie
ODESSA — The two-time defending state champion Lexington girls cross country team was challenged a bit Saturday morning, but its top three runners paced the squad to victory.
Lexington won the Odessa Invitational with 30 points, beating just four other schools at the small meet. Lafayette County was close behind with 42 points. The fifth Lafayette County runner beat the fifth Lexington runner, but Lexington’s top three are a tough trio to beat throughout the state.
The Minutewomen were led by their three runners, who all finished in the top five at state a year ago. They were leading the race from the beginning, and they paced the rest of the runners for the 5K race.
Leading the way was sophomore Ellie Lichte. She won the race in a time of 19:01. Just four seconds behind her was junior Phoebe Engelbrecht. Senior Addison Smith finished shortly behind her teammates, crossing the line in a time of 19:20.8.
Rounding out Lexington’s scoring runners were junior Piper Engelbrecht (16th) and sophomore Natalie Adkins (18th).
Lafayette County had three runners in the top 10 and its five scoring runners in the top 17. Sophomore Tenley Pessetto led the way with a seventh-place finish. Fellow sophomores Violet Joyner and Bridget Tyler placed eighth and 10th, respectively. Freshman Clara Copenhaver (12th) and senior Ella Amos (17th) were the next two runners from Lafayette County.
Individually, St. Paul Lutheran sophomore Amaya Shafer was the top runner after the Lexington trio. She placed fourth, running the course in a time of 20:21.9.
Odessa senior Natalie Doney finished just behind Shafer, Doney is looking to improve upon her 16th place finish at state from a year ago. She is aiming to finish her career with another state medal in November.
Boys
St. Joseph Christian cruised to a team victory in the boys meet. The Lions scored just 42 points in the 12-team race, beating second-place Lafayette County by 51 points.
Senior Austin Hill led the race from opening stretch, and he paced the other 93 runners. Hill’s winning time on the 5K course was 17:44.7, winning the race by eight seconds.
He was one of three Lions in the top four. Sophomore Ahren Domsch and freshman Augustus McCoy placed third and fourth, respectively. Junior Williams Reed (13th) and sophomore Owen Herzog (22nd) were the final two scoring runners for the Lions.
Other top individuals included Carrollton junior Carter Barlow, Lawson senior Miles Hochwender, Lafayette County junior Clay Aversman and Odessa sophomore Ace Kroesen. Barlow finished second in the race in a time of 17:52.7. Hochwender, Aversman and and Kroesen placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
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