Deerfield-Windsor cross country teams win own invitational

The host teams swept the championships in Saturday’s Deerfield-Windsor Invitational cross country meet at Darton College in Albany.

The Deerfield-Windsor boys finished first with 75 points behind senior Jon Durham and sophomore Garrison Slaughter. Durham was second in the boys 5K varsity race in 16 minutes, 9 seconds, and Slaughter took fourth at 17:01. They were backed up by teammates Jackson Belusko (22nd, 19:02), Tyler Ricks (23rd, 19:04) and Ethan Newsome (28th, 19:16).

Deerfield-Windsor posted an even lower score in the girls varsity division, winning with 59 points thanks to a trio of top-10 finishers. Senior Bailey Irvin placed fourth at 21:09, junior Sophie Singleton took fifth at 21:54 and junior Jane Strickland was seventh in 22:11.

Lee County’s girls team was second to the hosts with 91 points. The Trojans were led by senior Emily Phillips (11th, 22:25), sophomore Annemarie Harlow (20th, 23:00) and freshman Olivia Vanderwalt (27th, 23:33).

Lee was third in the boys division with 112 points behind top finishers Edward Ostrander and Tim Ellis. Ostrander, a senior, was 12th in 18:02, and Ellis, a junior, took 14th in 18:06. They were backed up by teammates Warren Morris (25th, 19:11) and Keith Henratty (26th, 19:15) in the top 30.

Worth County’s Eyan Zupko finished fifth (17:05) in the varsity boys race and teammate Conner Mullen was 13th (18:05). The Worth girls finished third at 126 with top finishes from junior India Williamson (15th, 22:41) and sophomore Alexia Sokolowski (19th, 22:57).

Westover’s girls were close behind at 127 as senior Anna Plowden raced to sixth in 22:03, and teammate Jada Landers was 23rd in 23:09.

In the girls race, Terrell Academy freshman Jenna DeBary was 22nd in 23:08, Baconton Charter freshman Gracie Morrical was 24th in 23:13 and Monroe freshman Marianna Wright was 26th in 23:30.

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