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Posted 6.0 months ago @ 11:24AM
BENZONIA — Buckley cross country head coach Jolie King said the Bears made her job easy.
The Buckley girls put in the hard work, and it paid off Tuesday with a Northwest Conference championship, the first female NWC title from any Bears squad since joining the league 17 years ago.
"It's pretty dang cool," said King, the Bears' second-year coach. "It's been building up. The girls have been running together since elementary school."
Buckley held a sizable 50-104 lead over Benzie Central in the girls team standings after the Northwest's first two meets, and the Bears just needed to take care of business Tuesday. They did just that, with seven Bears crossing the finish line before any other team had five.
Benzie Central claimed the boys title.
Buckley senior Aiden Harrand won her third individual NWC crown and second in a row, and six Buckley runners earned all-conference honors.
"They ran for each other," King said. "They really did. It's a close-knit group of girls. They make my job easy."
The Bears girls won with an overall team score of 31, with Benzie Central (43) second, Kingsley (72) third and Frankfort (78) fourth.
Harrand won in 17:53 flat, 51 seconds in front of runner-up Mylie Kelly of Benzie Central. Leland junior Ella Knudsen and Benzie juniors Nora Grossnickle and Ava Iverson rounded out the top five, with the next six consisting of Leland freshman Natalie Burpee, Frankfort sophomore Addision Chownyk, and Buckley's Brooklynn Frazee, Mikayla Kulawiak, Kinsey Peer and Kaylee Swanson.
