Independence’s cross country teams traveled to Boardman High School on Saturday for the 2017 Spartan Invitational.
The Blue Devils hope to return to the course later this fall for the Division III regional cross country meet.
“It was my first time running on the three-mile course at Boardman, so I was satisfied,” said freshman Makenna McGhee, who finished 20th with a time of 20:49. “With regionals being held there, it was good to become familiar with the course.”
Sophomore Emily Skoczen ran the course for the third time.
She finished 48th at the Spartan Invitational last year with a time of 21:49 then placed 29th at the regional meet in 21:42.
On Saturday, Skoczen improved even more by finishing 28th with a time of 21:23.
“My time was good for this time of the season and the course,” she said. “For this particular race, I was more focused on my place, which I was proud of.”
Junior Erica Esper (24:13), sophomore Izabell McGreevy (25:32) and junior Emma Wensink (27:04) also competed for the Blue Devils, who finished 19th as a team.
Independence’s boys’ team was shorthanded as only freshmen Collin Patton and P.J. Oschmann and sophomores Thorin Chappel and Greg Adams competed in the event.
Patton finished 62nd with a season-best time of 18:32 and Oschmann was 98th in 19:10. Chappel finished in 23:23 while Adams ran the race in 23:24.
“I’m surprised I got the time I did,” Patton said. “The second half of the race for me felt like my slowest yet, but I still managed to get a PR. I’m not too happy with how I raced though. My first and third mile times were at least a minute apart and completely inconsistent. Once I figure out how to run a smart race, I will be running the times that will put me with the other legends of Independence.”
