RIDGWAY — The Bradford Lady Owls dropped a close race against the Lady Crusaders of Elk County Catholic 25-32.
“I knew going in it was going to be tough to beat ECC,” said Bradford coach Dr. Mark Kelley. “Their top three finished ahead of our top runner in our invitational but we got to run a hard race on the district course which will help everyone in about six weeks.
Jennifer Bouquin was fourth in a time of 23:41.
“Jen continues to run great races and push hard at the beginning,” Kelley said. “She was 30 seconds faster in the first mile than on Saturday.”
Rylann Terwilliger was fifth in 24:04.
“Rylann also went out hard in the first mile, which is going to pay off in the next few big meets that we have,” Kelley said.
Anna Benedict was sixth in 25:00 and Addison Benson was eighth in 25:19.
“Anna and Addison continue to impress me as they grow into the season. I think they are going to have some good races in the next few weeks,” Kelley said.
Brooke Clouser was ninth in 26:02 and Brianna Haven was 10th in 26:09.
“Brianna is just coming back from injury and Brooke ran her always steady race,” Kelley said.
Joleen Weimer was 11th in 27:27 and Olivia Funk was 12th in 28:36.
“I knew that we were going to be a little tired after Saturday’s invitational, but getting to run a race on the district course is always beneficial. Many of these girls ran their best first mile of the year so now it’s about working on the second and third miles,” Kelley said.
The Lady Owls middle school team continued their unbeaten season with victories over ECC 18-45 and Ridgway 22-37.
Neveah Gomez was second in a time of 12:49 on the 1.75 mile course, Olivia Rhoades was third in 12:50, Mariah Hallock was fifth in 13:05, Kora Pennell was seventh in 13:48, Emma Herne was eighth in 14:30, Addison Terwilliger was 10th in 15:37 and Vivien Orris was 11th in 19:04.
“These girls continue to work hard in practice, and it is paying off in the meets,” Kelley said.
The Lady owls return to action Saturday at the Ben Bloser Bulldog Invitational at Big Spring High School in Newville.
“This is one of the elite races in Pennsylvania and we will see some very good competition,” Kelley said.
