Van Buren County, Hillcrest run in Burlington

BURLINGTON — A pair of area cross-country teams traveled to Burlington on Thursday for the Tony Proctor Invitational. Van Buren County and Hillcrest Academy took their strong-but-mighty teams to the event, both on the boys’ side and the girls’ side.

The only scoring team of the four squads was the Van Buren County boys’ team. The Warriors took fifth place with 106 points, 15 behind fourth-place Burlington.

Lincoln Bainbridge led the way for the Warriors, taking seventh place overall with a time of 18 minutes, 13 seconds.

Isaiah Meek crossed the tape in 27th place, crossing in 21:00. Grant Lilly took 31st, in 21:31. Ollie Tackett was 32nd, in 21:31. Blaine Benjamin took 34th, in 22:25, and Keaton Kennedy finished 37th, in 25:07.

Van Buren County had two girls running, and both netted Top-12 performances. Riley Philips finished 11th place, and Ashley Fennel took 12th.

Hillcrest Academy had three runners in the boys’ race. Micah Gerber took 16th, in 19:33. Jesse Blossom finished 26th, in 21:00, and Jeremiah Danker took 39th, in 25:37. Blossom’s time was a new personal best.

After missing the last two meets due to illness, Delaney Shaw came out and delivered a 27th-place performance as the lone Hillcrest girl. Shaw finished the race in 25:37.

BOYS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Davenport Central 40

2. Burlington 48

3. Mediapolis 59

4. Notre Dame-West Burlington 91

5. Van Buren County 106

GIRLS’ TEAM SCORES

1. Davenport Central 20

T2. Burlington 76

T2. Keokuk 76

4. Notre Dame-West Burlington 88

5. Mediapolis 105