By Marisa Dawson, Courtesy Photos
With just four days between meets, the Bennington cross country teams faced another quick turnaround Tuesday at the Mt. Michael Invitational in Elkhorn, but both teams continued to show progress as the season moves toward its postseason stretch.
The Bennington girls finished second as a team with 49 points, trailing only Seward’s 26. Norris finished third with 54 points, followed by Elkhorn with 60 and Duchesne Academy with 69.
Selah Carson led the way for the Badgers, placing third individually in 19:35. Maddie Scott added a ninth-place finish in 20:13, while Lucy Lampe and Mazlyn Cornett finished close together in 18th and 19th, respectively. Lampe crossed in 21:18, followed by Cornett in 21:22. Freshman Jayden Messerly rounded out Bennington’s team scoring, placing 27th in 21:58.
“Four days is a short turnaround for our next meet, but it was a good test to see what our teams could do,” head coach Joe Schumm said. “The girls responded well and put in great performances in really good racing conditions.”
Carson continued to provide a strong front-end presence for Bennington, while Scott remained close behind as the team’s second runner.
“I thought Selah had another really solid performance and Maddie was right in the mix,” Schumm said. “Those two are a great core to build around.”
Schumm said the consistency of the pair gives Bennington an important advantage when it comes to team scoring.
“You can expect those types of performances almost any time they step up to the starting line, they put us in great shape for team scoring,” he said.
The Badgers’ depth behind Carson and Scott also stood out. Lampe and Cornett finished only four seconds apart, with Schumm pointing specifically to Cornett’s continued work to close the gap.
“Lucy and Mazlyn are what set us apart, especially Mazlyn,” Schumm said. “She has been working hard to keep the gap between her and Lucy very small and the two of them keep Maddie in their sights, that really helps our scores.”
Messerly’s performance added another encouraging piece to the team’s postseason outlook. The freshman finished just 40 seconds behind Lampe and was close to both Lampe and Cornett throughout the race.
“Then for Jayden to be right with those two as a freshman really sets us up to do well when we get ready for districts next month,” Schumm said.
With districts approaching in October, Schumm believes the girls are positioned well as they enter the final portion of the season.
“The girls are in a pretty good spot as we move towards the end of the season,” he said.
The Bennington boys placed sixth out of 10 teams with 109 points. Norris won the team race with 27 points, edging Seward’s 28, while Elkhorn finished third with 41.
Thomas Morgan led the Badgers individually, finishing eighth in 16:54. Carter Boyer followed in 31st at 18:01, with Keaton Striffler close behind in 33rd at 18:06. Parker Houston placed 37th in 18:19, followed by Brayden Kramer in 40th at 18:29 and Alex O’Connell in 42nd at 18:46.
Schumm was particularly pleased with Morgan’s performance and noted significant improvement from Striffler.
“Good, solid race for the guys as well,” Schumm said. “Thomas really ran well, and Keaton made a big improvement from last week also.”
For the boys, the next step is continuing to tighten the gap between Morgan and the rest of the team’s top runners. Closing that distance could give Bennington additional scoring strength as the season reaches its most important races.
“We continue to work on the gap between Thomas and the rest of the team and if that can get reduced, October could be good for these boys,” Schumm said.
Regardless of the individual times, Schumm said the team’s effort throughout the season has been encouraging.
“Really happy with the effort these boys have been giving all year long,” he said.
JV results were provided as well and can be seen here:
With the regular season entering its final weeks, both Bennington squads will look to build on Tuesday’s performances as they prepare for the postseason.
