Final tune up for Pekin XC

BRIGHTON ? With most of Pekin?s varsity runners resting and getting healthy for a run toward a second-straight state title, the rest of the Panther team stepped in at the Lake Darling Invite on Thursday.

Pekin placed second on the girls? side and took sixth on the boys? side in the last meet of the season before the district/regional meet next Thursday in Columbus Junction.

Emma Nelson (6th, 15:39) and Victoria Eckley (7th, 15:50) led the Panther girls while Philip Laux (13th, 16:16) and Jacob Cooley (18th, 16:38) paced the boys? team.

Van Buren also ran as a final tune up for the district meet and Ben Moews once again led the Warriors finishing in seventh place with a time of 15:44. Zach Pilcher continued to improve and placed ninth in 15:53 while Whitney Atwood headed the Warrior girls in 13th (16:10).

Van Buren will run their district/regional meet with 26 other teams next Thursday in Wapello.

For full area results, read the Friday, October 16, 2009 Fairfield Ledger.