BOWLING GREEN, Mo. - The New Bloomfield Wildcats cross country team, sparked by freshman Caleb Distler's fourth-place finish, captured the boys' title at the Bowling Green Invitational on Friday.
In the girls' division, North Callaway senior Kyla Bertschinger came in third as the Ladybirds placed third overall.
Distler posted a time of 17 minutes, 44.29 seconds as New Bloomfield tallied 69 points. North Callaway finished 12th with 317 points and Fulton - resting its varsity runners ahead of district competition - was 13th with 329 points.
Senior Payton Culwell took seventh in 18:04.99 for the Wildcats, while junior Robert Morningstar placed 15th in 18:26.05. Senior Kyle Emerson was 21st in 18:46.43 and sophomore Chris Stone came in 32nd in 19:10.89.
Junior Ean Rohrback finished 49th in 20:01.45 to guide the North Callaway boys. Junior Josh McCowan took 75th in 21:25.05, freshman Joseph Crawford placed 81st in 21:32.07, junior Josh Craghead was 99th in 22:53.24 and freshman Noah Scrogum finished 101st in 23:12.48.
Junior Zach Schwinke topped Fulton by taking 23rd in 18:47.29 and freshman Clayton White came in 80th in 21:30.46. Junior Aaron Eliuk placed 88th in 22:14.66, junior Clayton Prettyman was 98th in 22:52.26 and junior Bud Wood finished 104th in 23:37.68.
Bertschinger recorded a time of 20:18.82 to direct the North Callaway girls as they accumulated 99 points. Senior Reyna Schmauch followed in fifth place in 20:54.14, freshman Julisa Moreno took 43rd in 25:02.06, freshman Olivia Isaacks came in 49th in 25:32.71 and senior Alyssa Rinehart was 55th in 26:01.10.
Sophomore Kylie Quinn was New Bloomfield's only runner, finishing 31st in 24:13.42.
Fulton had two runners competing - sophomore Caitlin Sievert took 35th in 24:29.98 and freshman Kalyn Wolfmeier was 51st in 25:40.55.
In the mixed junior varsity race, sophomore Easton Ambler came in 18th in 23:12.09 for the New Bloomfield boys. Senior Jacob Eickhorst followed in 19th place in 23:28.11 for the Wildcats, while freshman Gabe Browning finished 20th in 23:32.12.
Fulton travels to Moberly next Saturday for the Class 3, District 5 championships, while North Callaway goes to Bowling Green for the Class 2, District 3 meet. New Bloomfield visits Linn for the Class 2, District 4 championships.