(Photos: Alana Golden)
On Saturday, September 28th, the Camden varsity and modified cross country programs competed in their biggest invitational of the regular season as they took on the region’s best at the 81st annual EJ Herrmann Cross Country Invitational at Proctor Park in Utica. The meet is regarded as one of the state’s most prominent, with out-of-area teams often coming to compete on a championship-caliber course alongside the best in local competition.
In varsity competition, the Blue Devil boys were fifth with 165 points, while the Blue Devil girls team was ninth with 246 points.
The Camden boys were paced by the tandem of senior Elijah Jackson and sophomore Brenden Chennells. The duo came in 16th and 17th in the Boys’ Varsity Large School race, with Jackson’s time of 19:18.2 narrowly topping Chennells by just over a second at the finish. Junior Elisha Reed was 27th with a time of 19:50 across the five kilometer, 3.1 mile course. Sophomores Jaxon Woodcock and Damien Sands came in side-by-side at a time of 22:01.4 to lock up 56th and 57th place as Camden’s fourth and fifth scoring runners. Rounding out the team’s points-eligible lineup were Jacob Lago (59th, 22:09) and Jayden Osborne(63rd, 22:44).
Ian Halbritter (23:33), Chase Herper (26:40), and Billy Bernabe (27:09) rounded out the finishing order for the Blue Devil varsity boys.
The Camden girls continued to pick up experience with a youthful group that had just one senior on the starting line for the 3.1 mile distance. Junior Charlotte York led the way with a 34th place finish in 25:53. Freshmen Marah Johnson (54th, 31:00), and Madisyn Fuller (56th, 31:08), were the second and third Blue Devils across the line in the Girls’ Varsity Large School Race. Senior Ariana Levin was 59th in 33:13, and sophomore Emma Lindstrom was 60th in 44:01.
In modified competition, the girls’ squad was fifth with 101 points. The Blue Devils were guided by an outstanding runner-up finish by eighth grader Kyla Woodcock, who finished with a time of 11:13 across a 1.5 mile course. She trailed the winner by just eight seconds. Classmate Emma Wilson was fourteenth with a time of 12:21.7. In 23rd place, Sophia Gallagher was Camden’s top seventh grade runner with a 23rd place finish and a time of 12:48. Ericka Hernandez (38th, 14:23), Olivia Potter (50th, 15:24), Sydney Renk (56th, 15:49), and Stella Spellicy (67th, 16:54) completed the lineup for Camden.
In modified boys’ competition, eighth grader Aiden Miller completed his 1.5 mile race in 12:01, a finish that was good for 27th out of 63 competitors.
The Blue Devils compete next in a home dual meet on Wednesday, October 2nd at the Osceola Ski and Sport Resort. It will be senior day, and racing begins at 4:30 PM.
