ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A special day for Bradford cross country at Saturday’s McQuaid Invitational was highlighted on the girls’ side by a pair of varsity medalists and a team victory for the junior high girls.
“This was the best we have run as a team for everyone this year, varsity and junior high,” Bradford coach Mark Kelley said. “We had 13 girls receive t-shirts, medals or ribbons and many of the girls ran one-to-two minutes faster than they have this year.”
The Lady Owls varsity squad placed 12th out of 37 schools. Korie Dixon was 16th in 19:45.
“This was (Dixon’s) best race of the year,” Kelley said. “She was relaxed and comfortable and looked like she is getting back to last year’s form.”
Caitlyn Taylor finished closely behind in 17th in 19:45, completing the course 90 seconds faster than she did the year prior.
“(Taylor) was worked very hard to earn this and I’m very happy for her,” Kelley said. “I can’t wait to see her run the next few meets with some rest.”
Leila Bines was 83rd in 21:23, a minute faster than last year, and Abbigail Schleicher was 119th in 22:45, also minute faster than the year prior. Mayla Smith was 124th in 22:52, Elisa Hayden was 126th in 22:54, Joleen Weimer was 168th in 24:21 and Jennifer Bouquin was 175th in 24:37. Smith improved by three minutes from last year.
For the second time in three years, the Fretz Middle School girls team captured first place with 66 points, seven better than second-place Fort LeBouef. Thirty-seven schools were in the race.
“This was an exciting race,” Kelley said. “I thought we were in great position at the mile mark and the girls finished it in the last half mile. We had eight in the top 50 and 10 girls earned medals or ribbons.”
Kendyl Cruz was sixth in 10:22, Rylann Terwilliger was 14th in 10:47 and Brianna Haven was 22nd in 10:56. Anna Benedict was 30th in 11:06, Addison Benson was 35th in 11:18, Brooke Clouser was 41st in 11:30, Jackie Sipko was 45th in 11:36, Samantha McCaul was 48th in 11:39, Olivia Funk was 56th in 12:01, Madison Ronan was 68th in 12:25 and Regan Dillaman was 117th in 13:47.
“It’s always nice to win an invitational, but winning McQuaid is always special,” Kelley said. “This race has so much history and the competition is always top notch. I’m very proud of all of these girls. They work hard and work as a team. They know that the first runner is just as important as the last runner.”
When combining the results of all junior high teams — including the small, medium and large schools — Fretz finished second only to Fairport, which won the large school division.
“To all the personal bests, the girls winning the junior high race and Manny Diaz winning the boys race, it was truly a special day for Bradford cross country on Saturday,” Kelley said. “We have a week off to rest up and get some quality workouts in before heading to Harborcreek next Saturday.”
