Winning team championships has been a theme for the Columbus Community boys’ cross country team this year, but Tuesday night’s title might mean a little more. The Wildcats defended their home course at Cedarcrest to capture their third title of 2020 and they bested the whole field at the Mike Jay Invitational for the second straight season. 

The Wildcats ran away with the crown to finish with 45 points while Louisa-Muscatine was second with 73. Isaac Acosta was his normal self placing fifth in 18:42 and Freddy Vergara stepped up to place sixth in 18:49. Other top finishes included Mason Hills-Carrier 10th (19:13), Alex Rivas 11th (19:16), and Damian Vergara 13th (19:21). Head Coach Steve Riley always looks forward to the home meet. “The runners love it every year. It is a smaller meet, but we get a good crowd that is scattered across the whole course. It turned out to be a beautiful night so the whole atmosphere was outstanding.”

Winfield-Mt. Union managed third out of seven teams with 82 points. Dane Sweezer cracked the top 10 in ninth (19:04) and teammate Brody Barton was 14th (19:36). Gabriel Hemsworth was 16th (19:47) and Lane Scorpil 19th (20:15). Highland was seventh with 147 points and Ethan Paisley led them in 25th (20:46). WACO did not have enough for a team score, but Wyatt Dennis tallied 38th place (22:04). 

No girls’ team recorded a score, but Taylor Sublette of Highland made headlines by finishing third in 23:52. Winfield-Mt. Union’s Avery Maeder crossed the finish line in ninth (24:51) and Columbus Community’s Averi Sipes was 14th (26:05). Out of 16 Wildcat boys and girls runners, 14 of them posted personal best times at their home course. McKenzie Vradenburg led WACO on the girls’ side in 15th (26:35).