PIQUA — The Tippecanoe cross country teams made a sweep of the MVL meet Saturday, winning both team titles.

BOYS

The boys race featured two of the top runners in Southwest Ohio in Tippecanoe’s Landon Kimmel and Piqua’s Noah Burgh.

Kimmel, a junior, finished third at the state meet a year ago and led Tipp to the team title by winning in 15:06.5.

“Coming off the Anna race, this was kind of a chill day for me,” Kimmel said. “It was about winning the team title today and I think we are in pretty good shape for that. For sure (he is where he wants to be heading into district).”

Kimmel’s only loss this year was a second-place finish at the Valkyrie seeded race, where he finished second to Alex Bruns of St. Xavier. The two will run against each other in two weeks at the regional meet in Troy.

“Of course, I look forward to running against Alex (Bruns),” Kimmel said. “I always look forward to running against him, no matter where it is at.”

Tipp finished first with 36 points.

The rest of the Red Devils top seven were Everett Muhlenkamp, 5, 16:20.1; Ethan Berning, 7, 16:45.5; Luke Schwieterman, 9, 16:57.8; Dimitri Hartman, 14, 17:06.0; Eli Ramos, 19, 17:13.1 and Will Hept, 25, 17:25.2.

Burgh, who finished 24th at state last year, took second Saturday in 15:25.5.

“You know why I enjoy running against Landon Kimmel,” Burgh explained. “You know how you always have that one guy that is bigger, stronger, faster. That is why I like running against him. He helps keep my ego in check.”

Like Kimmel, Burgh was more focused on the team standings.

“Today’s time was faster than usual,” Burgh said. “I had my PR on this course at the night race this year, but today wasn’t about that. We knew Butler (Vandalia-Butler) had a really good team. It was about chasing the gray and the black (the color of Butler’s uniforms).”

Piqua accomplished that goal, taking second with 50 points.

Brycen Angle was right behind Burgh, giving Piqua a 2-3 finish. Angle crossed the line in 16:14.7.

The rest of Piqua’s top seven included Braden Holtvogt, 12, 17:02.2; Evan Clark, 16, 17:07.6; AJ Burroughs, 17, 17:09.6; Ty Pettus, 24, 17:22.4 and Harvin Bornhorst, 45, 18:18.3.

Troy finished fourth in the team standings.

The Trojans top seven included Elijah Buschur, 6, 16:41.4; Ryan McChesney, 10, 17:00.8; Chet Snyder, 26, 17:27.4; Samuel Swanson, 31, 17:33.6; Noah Zink, 33, 17:37.3; Dylan Arnold, 34, 17:38.7 and Nate Reynolds, 37, 17:56.7.

GIRLS

Morgan Collins led Tippecanoe to the girls team title Saturday.

The returning state qualifier finished second in 20:25.1.

“Given the circumstances, I would say I am pretty happy with it,” Collins said. “I missed a month and a half of training this summer with an injury. So, I am not where I would normally be conditioning wise and I was feeling sick today, that may have had something to do with it.”

She was more happy that Tipp was able to win the team title.

“We were really hoping we could do enough to win it and looks like might have,” Collins said. “It will be close (returning to state). I really haven’t looked at that yet. I will have to look at the other times and seed.”

Tipp won with 31 points.

The rest of Tipp’s top seven were Sydney Labreck, 4, 20:49.0; Lucia Ranly, 5, 20:50.1; Katelyn Beeson, 6, 20:58.1; Mary Waibel, 14, 22:01.0; Lauren Anderson, 21, 22:32.4 and Gracie Raiff, 22:45.4.

Troy finished second with 47 points.

Avyn Spagnola led the way, finishing third in 20:36.6 and Isabel Westerheider was seventh in 21:18.0.

Rounding out the top seven were Lily Zimmerman, 9, 21:21.4; Kaylee Strayer, 13, 21:58.5; McKenna Lynch, 16, 22:16.6; Ruby Zimmerman, 19, 22:27.8 and Peyton Scott, 27, 23:01.7.

Piqua finished fifth.

The Indians runners included Ashlyn Gearhardt, 20, 22:31.8; Lucy Weiss, 29, 23:08.5; Kendall Soto, 36, 23:43.3; Alyssa York, 40, 23:57.2; Libby Jane Magoteaux, 51, 24:20.8; Addyson Ford, 61, 25:14.1 and Bailey Quinter, 86, 27:21.2.

Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]