By Garth Shanklin

gshanklin@civitasmedia.com

Last week was a busy one for the Ripley cross country teams.

The squads headed to Georgetown Wednesday afternoon for the Vern Hawkins Invitational. After a scoring issue delayed posting of the results, Josh Deaton would be credited with a fifth-place finish in the event, just ahead of Georgetown’s Emerson Cahall.

Chris Reuss also earned a top-30 finish, placing 24th out of 97 runners. The two led the Ripley boys’ varsity team to a seventh overall finish in the team standings, just ahead of Batavia. Amelia won the event by placing two runners in the top three.

On the girls’ side, Savannah Doyle finished 38th for the Lady Jays, just in front of teammate Carley McGuffey. Madison Plum finished 46th out of 67 runners.

The junior high teams got into the action as well. Kate Dugan finished 18th for the Lady Jays in the 3200 meter event, posting a time of 16:19.64. Nigel Royal led the Blue Jays on the boys’ side, finishing in 12th place.

Saturday morning, the teams returned to action at the Bethel Cross Country Invitational. Dugan finished 19th in the junior high girls’ race while Tristen Fisher edged Royal to finish 27th in the boys’ event. The Blue Jays finished sixth in the team standings, right behind host Bethel. Eastern won the event by five points over Batavia.

In the girls’ varsity event, three freshman ran well for Ripley. Tiffany Deaton finished 75th out of 114 runners while Carley McGuffey and Savanna Doyle finished 81st and 86th, respectively.

Deaton once again paced the Ripley boys’ varsity team, clocking a 19:24.70 and finishing 17th. Freshman Travis Flannery finished 43rd with Reuss coming in just behind him in 50th.

The Blue Jays finished ninth out of 19 teams in the team standings, one point ahead of Blanchester. New Richmond won the event by one point over host Bethel.

Ripley’s cross country teams are back in action Saturday morning in New Richmond for the New Richmond Invitational.

Reach Garth Shanklin at 937-378-6161 or gshanklin@civitasmedia.com.

Josh Deaton turned in a strong performance by placing fifth in the Vern Hawkins Invitational last weekend in Georgetown.
https://www.ripleybee.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_DeatonRipley.jpgJosh Deaton turned in a strong performance by placing fifth in the Vern Hawkins Invitational last weekend in Georgetown.

By Garth Shanklin

gshanklin@civitasmedia.com

Reach Garth Shanklin at 937-378-6161 or gshanklin@civitasmedia.com.