CUBA, N.Y. — For the second week in a row, the Bradford girls cross country team earned a top-two finish, this time at the Cuba-Rushford Invitational.
Korie Dixon finished third overall in 20:38, leading the Lady Owls to a runner-up team finish. Smethport’s Jenna Gregory finished second overall individually.
“It was not a very nice day to run,” Bradford coach Mark Kelley said. “It rained the entire day and the course was very sloppy and wet. But the girls put together their best team effort of the year by placing five girls in the top 14 and all nine in the top 30.”
Caitlyn Taylor was seventh for the Lady Owls in 22:01 while Leila Bines was 10th in 23:06.
“Korie continues to have a great year and lead this team,” Kelley said. “There was a gap between 3-4 of almost one minute so she really ran the entire race by herself. So to run this time solo is a good performance.
“Caitlyn continues to perform week in and week out. She is running great at the best time of the year. Leila really raced today. That was the goal for the week. To not worry about time but just race.”
Elisa Hayden (23:28) was 12th while Aubrey Cruz (23:37) was 14th and Kendall Gracey-Dalton (24:23) was 16th. Karsyn Gracey-Dalton (24:23) was 19th for the Lady Owls, Abby Schleicher (24:43) 20th and Mayla Smith (26:15) 30th.
““This was a good performance 1-9 for us,” Kelley said. “Districts is two weeks away and we have to get ready to go down there and race. The weather at districts is unpredictable so to run well on a rainy day is a good thing.”
Teah Howard finished 25th for Smethport, while Kaylee Edgar was 36th and Julianna Cole was 57th.
The Lady Owl junior high team earned medals across the board, paced by Jackie Sipko’s seventh-place finish in 13:10. Olivia Funk (13:20) was ninth, Jennifer Bouquin (14:33) 17th and Maddi Gleason (15:21) 21st.
“All of these girls ran very hard and earned hard-fought medals,” Kelley said. “It was raining very hard during their race.”
Smethport’s Maddy McKean finished second, while Joleen Weimer was sixth and Sage Caskey was 14th.
The Lady Owls varsity team will run at the TSTCA championships Thursday in California, Pa. and the junior high will run next at the Northwest PA Middle School Championships next Saturday in Kane.
