Malvern’s cross-country teams turned in strong performances at the Lee Sternberg/East Canton Invitational on Wednesday, Aug. 27, with six Hornets earning top-20 finishes and several athletes posting personal bests.
On the girls’ side, Emma Maher led the way, finishing ninth out of 57 runners with a time of 22:51.6. She was closely followed by Olivia Maher, who placed 11th in 23:09.3, and Mya Doughty, who clocked a season-best 23:13.1 for 12th. Lexus Buchman ran a season-best 32:14.1 for 55th, while Annabell Renz capped the day with a lifetime best of 45:55.1, finishing 57th. As a team, the Hornet girls placed fifth out of six squads.
The boys’ team was led by Dalton Pennington, who earned a medal with his 10th-place finish in 18:57.3, a season best. Jacob McClelland ran a lifetime-best 19:23.1 for 15th, while Cooper Dorr rounded out Malvern’s medalists with a 19th-place finish in 19:35.4. Dekon Pennington was 25th in 20:23.8, missing a season best by just two seconds. Other lifetime bests came from Karsen Farmer (38th, 22:17), Anderson Myers (56th, 28:59.7), Parker Babiczuk (57th, 29:27.8) and Andersen Myers (116th, 30:35). The boys’ team finished fourth out of five teams.
The Hornets return to action Saturday, Aug. 30, at the Newcomerstown Invitational.
