The Pettisville Blackbirds started both their Girl’s and Boy’s Cross Country season against fierce competition at the OHSAA Early Invitational. With 17 teams on hand, their were 151 girl runner at the event, while the boys sported 185 runners.
In a strong showing, the Lady Blackbirds came in seventh place at the invitational with a score of 189. Freshman Elizabeth Sauder led the way by finishing tenth overall with a time of 21:37.46. Right behind her was sophomore Alexa Leppelmeier in eleventh place at 21:38.73, just over one second’s difference. Another freshman, Nichole Foor rounded out Pettisville’s top three at eighteenth place and and a time of 22:22.92. By comparison, Mary McElroy won the race for Fort Frye at 20:36 flat.
The boy’s of Pettisville also gave a solid performance, coming in eleventh place. Matching his team’s placement, junior Kyle Lantz was the eleventh competitor to cross the finish line at 17:43.80. Senior Jacob Hauter finished twenty-first overall, with a time of 18:20.21. The third Blackbird to finish, Evan Warner, came in seventieth place at 20:44.06. Tristan Dahmen of Maplewood won the race by running a 16:22.27.