Alex Notten of Mason and Jacob McNamara of La Salle compete in the Division I 5K.
Kevin Goheen reports:
Boys make their way through the mud during the Division I 5K in Mason.
Tom Rapp measured 3½ inches of rain from Friday’s overnight storms at his home in Mason. His rain gauge showed another inch fell Saturday morning.
The cross country course at Corwin Nixon Park is challenging enough with its combination of flat lands, hills and jumps over hay bales and creeks, but adding mud to the mix only increased the challenge.
- Photos: Mason Cross Country Invitational
Rapp’s Mason boys’ team handled the elements and a field of 189 runners the best to capture the Division I team title at the Mason Cross Country Invitational for the first time since 2009 with 73 points.
The Comets, ranked No. 2 in The Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll and No.3 in the state poll, beat Lawrence North (Ind.) by six points with a pack effort that saw just 29 seconds separating their first six runners.
“It’s a source of pride because we haven’t won it the last couple of years and we train in that part almost daily,” said Rapp. “The course deteriorated throughout the day, as we knew it would, but our guys did a good job of handling it. You could either complain about the footing or go out and beat the guy next to you who’s also struggling with the footing. Our guys handled it.”
Senior Alex Notten placed sixth overall with a time of 17:08 over the 3.1-mile course. Joey Stimler (13th), Zac Thompson (15th), Tom Clark (19th), Dylan McElhenny (20th) and Nick Grismer (23rd) rounded out Mason’s top six runners.
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