McCook's Martin, Ankersen place 5-7 at Minden cross country meet

MINDEN -- McCook High School's Cody Martin and Ryan Ankersen placed in the top 10 in the varsity boys race Saturday at the Minden Invitational cross country meet.

Martin placed fifth in the 3.1-mile race with a time of 17 minutes, 56 seconds. Ankersen placed seventh with a time of 18:10.

The McCook boys team finished eighth with 109 points. Minden and Adams Central tied for first with 52 points.

The McCook girls placed fifth with 86 points. Aurora ran away with the girls team title with 19 points.

Also competing for the McCook boys were Jack Eckhardt, 49th place, 21:15; Carson Kain, 55th, 21:28; Ian Hunter, 57th, 21:52; Michael Jordan, 63rd, 22:14; Clay Jordan, 78th, 23:33; James Zlomke, 86th, 25:23; and Forrest Kain, 89th, 26:33.

Cody and Ryan ran a very tactical race," said McCook cross country coach Tom Sughroue.

"Starting out slower than the leaders and moving up though the pack. At the mile they were in the 16th and 17th spot. They spent the rest of the race playing chase. That makes running fun for the kids.

"The remainder of the boys team continue to get stronger as the season progresses. I am pleased with our progress.

"Carson Kain and Ian Hunter continue to look stronger and stronger with every meet. They have both become a mainstay for our varsity positions."

Eustis-Farnam's Andrew Bellamy placed 36th in the varsity boys race with a time of 20:26.

Eustis-Farnam was represented in the girls 2.46-mile race by three runners.

Hillary Wills placed eighth with a time of 17:36, followed by Erica Madron, 18th, 18:34; and Kyle-Lynn Hughes, 21st, 18:46.

McCook's top girls runner Megan Skiles, who placed 31st with a time of 19:50.

Kelsey Schoup was 35th, 20:09; Christi Burrows, 39th, 20:39; Dearby Woodruff, 46th, 21:04; Sarah Calvin, 55th, 24:08; and Jennifer Herron, 56th, 24:47.

"The girls team are also getting better from meet to meet," Sughroe said. "I know the girls didn't see the improvement that they were looking for from the last meet. But they looked much better than the last time we had two meets in three days.

"I thought that they looked much stronger this time and we didn't see the times drop, but on the other hand they didn't increase either. That tells me they are getting stronger. I was impressed with all of their efforts.

"Megan, Kelsey and Christi were our top runners of the day all were within 49 seconds of each other. We like to see them close together to help the team score well. All three continue to show great improvements."

Three Bison runners competed in the Junior High School one-mile race.

Brian Roberts placed seventh with a time of 6:03, followed by Hailey Buddenburg, 15th, 6:20.09; and Adrian Lambing, 32nd, 6:55.

They (the Bison junior high runners) continue to have a good showing," Sughroue said. "These young runners have a great future in the sport."

The McCook boys and girls cross country teams compete at the Oberlin Invitational at 5 p.m. Tuesday and the Gothenburg Invitational at 4 p.m. Thursday.