Knap, Franzen lead SJO Running at Doc Acklin Memorial Invitational
By Fred Kroner
A St. Joseph-Ogden senior and a freshman from the school were the top two runners on Saturday (Aug. 28), helping the Spartans to the team title in the girls’ division of the Doc Acklin Memorial cross-country invitational in Paris.
The meet is named in honor of the father of Jim Acklin, a former SJ-O head coach who is now an assistant coach in cross-country.
Senior Ava Knap was the leader in the 59-runner field. Her winning 3-mile time was 20 minutes, 0.8 seconds.
The runner-up was SJ-O freshman Savanna Franzen. She was timed in 20:11.6.
The Spartans had one other top-10 placer.
Kailyn Ingram was ninth in 22:00.7.
Maddison Clampitt and Chloe Burkhalter finished within seconds of each other. Clampitt was 12th in 22:24.9. Burkhalter was 13th in 22:37.6.
Other SJ-O participants were: Malorie Sarnecki (15th in 23:17.6), Addie Allen (20th in 23:32.0) and Kaytlyn Baker (39th in 27:24.1).
SJ-O had a team score of 31 points. Runner-up Marshall finished with 44 points. Third-place Newton had 80 points and was followed by Effingham (90 points).
SJ-O will return to action on Saturday (Sept. 4) in the Chrisman Cowchip Classic.
