The Saline girls’ cross country team crossed the finish line first at the SEC Jamboree No. 2 on Tuesday at Pioneer High School. The Hornets finished with an impressive 31 points to win the conference event.
Pioneer had the overall winner and took three of the top six spots to finish second with 47 points. Huron finished with 97 points and landed third, a step ahead of Dexter who scored 100 points and took fourth. Skyline was fifth with 109 points followed by Bedford, Monroe and Lincoln.
A pair of freshmen were at the top of the leaderboard. Pioneer’s Natasza Dudek finished first with a time of 18:04.2 while Saline’s McKinley Jones was second in 18:28.8. Pioneer junior Hana Boggess was third in 18:45.10.
Earlier in the year, Dudek won the SEC Jamboree 1 in 18:27.3. She has finished first in every race so far this year except the Jackson Invitational where she ran second with a PR time of 17:27.44.
The Pioneers also had strong finishes from freshman Sienna Klemmer (sixth, 19:19.8); sophomore Nina Moore (13th, 19:53.5); senior Clara Peikert (25th, 20:53.9); senior Lucy Pike (26th, 21:28.0); junior Bridget Kerber (28th, 21:28.0); sophomore Lucinda Gubbini (32nd, 21:49.0); sophomore Mia Lopez (39th, 22:21.3); and freshman Nicole Fulcher (53rd, 23:50.0).
Huron was led across the finish line by senior Lucinda Paliani (eighth, 19:23.9) and junior Leena Shelgikar (12th, 19:49.7). A pair of freshmen had strong runs for the River Rats – Sadie Bohnsack was 22nd in 20:38.6 and Mira Shelgikar was 24th in 20:53.6. Senior Julieta Turon was 33rd in 21:50.4 and junior Tanishka Tewari was 41st in 22:23.10.
The Dreadnaughts had eight runners land in the top 40 led by senior Alena Blumberg who took 14th in 19:58.7 and sophomore Kodie Snyder who ran 17th in 20:09.8. Senior Addison Bruckman was 21st in 20:21.50; freshman Layla Blumberg was 23rd in 20:41.5; junior Amelia Cribbins was 29th in 21:28.5; junior Avery Hoeft was 31st in 21:40.40; senior Hannah Sisson was 36th in 22:12.00; and junior Kennedy Matson was 40th in 22:22.5.
Skyline also had a strong showing from a freshmen runner as Lucia Llanes led the Eagles across the finish line with her seventh-place time of 19:19.9. Sophomore Isla Tharp landed in the top 20 as she took 19th place in 20:17.0. Two other sophomores had strong runs for Skyline – Becca Van Lent was 20th in 20:17.6 and Alison Kauffman was 35th in 22:09.7. Senior Ayla Balazer was 38th in 22:20.30, sophomore Mara Mocanu was 42nd in 22:30.0, freshman Elin Tenbrink was 45th in 22:53.3 and junior Grace Hopkins was 56th in 24:11.7.
