MADISON TOWNSHIP — Crestview’s Cooper Brockway defended his Richland County title while Shelby’s Anna Will claimed her first crown.
Brockway and Will won individual championships at the Richland County Tyler Amos Dream Huge Realty Invitational on an unusually mild Monday afternoon at Madison.
A senior, Brockway won in 17 minutes, 43.4 seconds. His time was about 45 seconds off last year’s winning time, but almost 90 seconds ahead of runner-up Zane Robinson of Shelby (19:10.0).
“They changed the course this year and that may have played a little bit of a factor into it, but I’ll forget about it and move on to the next race,” Brockway said. “It wasn’t how I wanted it to go after running 16:59 here last year.
“(I was) quite a ways off that time, but I’ll get back at in on Saturday.”
Clear Fork’s Amos Tobin finished third in 19:37.8. Crestview’s Wyatt Love (19:44.3) and Madison’s Evan Larsen (20:01.1) rounded out the top five.
Crestview won the team title with a score of 46. Shelby (48) was second, while Madison (72), Clear Fork (81) and Lexington’s junior varsity (99) rounded out the team scores.
Will and defending champ Leyna Gerich of Crestview raced to the front of the pack early and quickly pulled away from the field. Will began to distance herself from Gerich in the final mile, winning in 20:26.6.
“I’ve been working over the summer and thinking every day that I wanted to win Richland County and be able to run better than I did last year,” Will said. “I definitely like the competition a lot. That helps me to go faster and be better when there’s somebody working off of you and you are working off of her.”
A sophomore, Will added weight lifting to her off-season workout regimen. The time spent in the weight room already is paying off.
“I feel stronger,” she said. “My stride feels stronger and going to my arms when I’m moving forward, that was definitely part of the weight room.”
Gerich was second in 20:54.6, while Crestview teammates Audrey Wolford (20:54.6) and Alina Durbin (22:12.9) were third and fourth, respectively. Shelby’s Emma Montgomery (22:21.2) was fifth.
Crestview won the girls team title with a score of 24. Shelby (36) was second, followed by Madison (91) and the Lexington junior varsity (101).