Eli Franklin wins St. Joseph Invitational

By Fred Kroner

Runners from St. Joseph were the individual winners in the St. Joseph Junior High both of the boys’ cross-country races in the school’s invitational on Friday (Sept. 22).

In the 93-runner race for seventh- and eighth-graders, Eli Franklin captured top honors with a 2-mile time of 11 minutes, 49.99 seconds.

He won by 2.73 seconds.

Placing third was Panther teammate Adam Bello (12:16.31).

Eight of their teammates secured finishes among the top 50.

Brady Johnson was 14^th in 12:58.58. Trailing him were Henry McCannon (21^st in 13:20.71), Sam Zadeh (22^nd in 13:22.54), Nathan Hinkel (32^nd in 13:47.06), Patrick Clark (33^rd in 13:47.61), Hunter Dilley (35^th in 13:50.43), Holden Hausle (38^th in 14:00.43) and Luke Dunn (50^th in 14:59.77).

In the race for fifth- and sixth-graders, the individual champion was Camden Fisher. His winning time was 11:48.50, giving him a 27.83-second margin of victory.

Six of his teammates placed among the top 31 in a 75-runner race.

Following Fisher were Kelton Pruemer (12^th in 13:48.68), Alex Weidenburner (15^th in 14:17.58), Brandon Jackson (25^th in 15:07.00), Carson Coffey (26^th in 15:19.48), Ethan Burnett (27^th in 15:20.37) and Tyson Huckstadt (31^st in 15:49.95).

St. Joseph will return to action on Saturday (Sept. 30) in the Monticello Invitational at Lodge Park.