Gracie Troester and Kristin Probst finished first and second in the girls race at the Republic Invitational cross country meet Tuesday. Brady Purcell and William Payne finished second and third in the boys race. They were the top finishers for Republic, who won the girls team championship and finished second in the boys race.
Republic’s difficult, hilly course, and unseasonably hot weather kept times slower for everyone. Troester’s winning time of 19:49.53 was more than a minute off her previous best this season. She was about 1:08 ahead of Probst, who was seven seconds ahead of Clara Trent of New Covenant Academy, the third-place finisher.
Misora Nambara and Millie Waterman finished ninth and tenth. Catherine Wilson was 13th and Mylee Ramsey 15th.
Purcell finished in 17:56.60, about a minute behind winner Landon Duchscherer of Marion C. Early. Payne finished in 18:26.87. Gabe Benjamin turned in his highest finish yet, in 12th. Hayden Mitchell was 19th and Dak Henning was 20th.
Republic’s Lucas Riffe won the 8th grade boys race, and Gracie Mason of Republic won the 6th grade girls race.
