Starfire boys reach regional (10/15/03)

The South Adams boys cross country team didn’t do as well as it might have liked, but it did earn a trip to Saturday’s regional.

Four teams were in the running for the Bellmont Sectional title Tuesday, and the Starfires slid to fourth among that group with a score of 67. The host Braves won the event with a score of 53, Norwell was second with 55 and New Haven took third with 61.

Also heading to Saturday’s regional at Bellmont will be fifth-place finisher Fort Wayne Wayne. Those five teams will join Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider, Fort Wayne Concordia, Fort Wayne North Side and Leo in the regional field.

Jay County placed ninth in Tuesday’s 10-team field, finishing ahead of only Adams Central with a score of 220.

Heath Lehman set the tone for the Starfires, placing third with a time of 17:14. Sectional champion Troy Heileman and his teammate Nate Luebke of New Haven were well ahead of the field throughout the race.

Another Lehman, Michael, crossed the finish line next for South Adams. He placed eighth in 17:40. Tim Conrad was 12th with a time of 17:48, and Josh Sprunger placed 17th in 18:03.

Andi Baumgartner rounded out the team scoring for the Starfires in 29th with a time of 18:52.

The top Patriot finisher was Josh Atkinson in 39th, who crossed the line in 19:46. Senior Paul Imel finished his final 5000-meter jaunt in 20:02 in 42nd.

Nathan McClung was 46th in 20:21, Josh Selvey was one spot back in 20:26, and Doug Murray placed 51st in 20:54.[[In-content Ad]]