The Sturgis boys cross country team placed third and the girls finished sixth at Tuesday’s Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference East Division jamboree at Marshall. Senior Peyton Boughton was medalist with a time of 19 minutes, 54 seconds.
Gull Lake (36), Marshall (60) and Battle Creek Lakeview (85) claimed the top-three spots in the girls’ race. The Gull Lake boys (45) also took first, followed by Lakeview (54) and the Trojans (78).
“The girls team competed with only eight of 13 girls and had great races,” Sturgis coach Emerson Green said of the injury-plagued squad. We were hoping for better [for the boys] coming off the strong weekend at Holly. Terry Stahl returned to the lineup with a strong 10th-place finish. Nic Franks and German Exchange student Luca Kroemer had lifetime best times. The boys team knows all the work they have ahead of them to reach their goals.”
Senior Grant Brown was fifth overall for Sturgis in a time of 16:54. Stahl, a junior, clocked in at 17:34 for 10th. Sophomore Shawn Bell (17:41) was 15th, junior Trever Sprowls (17:55) was 19th and junior David Polzin was the final team scorer in 29th place with a time of 18:24.
Junior Elle Bowman (23:50) and freshman Sarah Hackman (23:53) placed 34th and 35th, respectively, for the Trojans. Sophomore Alaina Cholometes (24:26) was 39th and junior Jacquelynn Allan finished 46th with a time of 26:53.