ORWELL—The addition of freshman Lauren Snyder and junior Sydney Snyder already has paid dividends for the Kirtland cross country team and on Tuesday the sisters finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to lead the Hornets to a second place finish at the Grand Valley Invitational.
Lauren Snyder finished the race in 21:53 while Sydney was right behind her at 22:24.
“Lauren and Sydney ran very well and when you get a few low numbers you can begin to be in the mix for team awards,” said Kirtland coach J.P. Moran. “The girls’ team stepped up big time with two of our top runners out tonight due to illness and/or injury.”
Ellie David, a sophomore, and her sister Katie David, a freshman, finished 19th and 20th overall in 26:25 and 26:31 for the Hornets.
Holly Samf, a junior, completed the race in 27:42 to finish 28th and freshman Ninah Johnson came in at 28:16.
“Ellie and Katie David were our third and fourth runners with Holly Samf running fifth and a strong showing as our sixth by freshman Ninah Johnson,” Moran said. “It was a great post-race dinner and ride home with that trophy.”
Lauren Snyder knows she could have finished faster but she’s satisfied with her finish and thrilled with her team’s runner-up award.
“It was hot this evening and my time was a little slower than what I wanted,” she said. “Overall, I was pleased with my fifth place finish but even more proud of the team receiving second place.”
Jake Grdadolnik, a sophomore, paced the Kirtland boys with a time of 19:30. He finished 10th overall.
Sophomore Konnor Duncan was 18th (20:41), Nick Briggs, a sophomore, finished in 23:48 and Andrew Schneider, a freshman, clocked a time of 24:11. Sophomore Kirk Brauer ran the race in 27:33.
Kirtland travels to Cardinal on Saturday.
