Marshall boys, girls second in NCMC meet

Marshall had eight NCMC medalists Saturday: (bottom row, from left) Stormy Morrison, Arozo Shahabzada, Katie Wells, Lauren McGrath, (top row) Matt Bledsoe, Alex Jenkins, Damon Thompson and Phillip Perkins. (Photo contributed) [Click to enlarge]

HANNIBAL -- Both the Marshall boys' and girls' cross country team claimed four medals Saturday to finish second in NCMC Championships at Hannibal.

The Owls put five runners into the top 15 to tally 50 points, eight behind winner Mexico -- paced by senior Hayden Legg, who reclaimed the conference title he won in 2006 after losing it Marshall Invitational champion David Huskisson of Kirksville last year.

Seniors Matt Bledsoe (18:22) and Phillip Perkins (18:30) ran up front for Marshall, with the next three in the 11th, 13th and 15th spots: sophomore Damon Thompson (18:54), senior Alex Jenkins (18:59) and sophomore Nick Jenkins (19:19).

Junior Patrick Todd (19:48) and sophomore Bryson Fergison (19:49) finished together in 22nd and 23rd places.

Sophomore Katie Wells (21:02) came in second to the defending champion, Hannibal senior Emma Burditt, by 39 seconds in the girls' race. Freshmen Lauren McGrath (22:42) and Arozo Shahabzada (23:14) renewed the rivalry they had as distance runners last year at Bueker Middle School, McGrath placing ninth -- lowering her personal record seven seconds -- and Shahabzada 12th.

Sophomore Stormy Morrison (23:22) grabbed a medal for coming in 13th, with a 26th-place showing by sophomore Chanelle Koehn (25:50) giving the Lady Owls 43 points -- 13 behind first-place Moberly.

In the boys' open race, freshman Logan Simmons (20:18) came in second and sophomore Jeremy Jalilvand (20:32) and junior Michael Piechoinski (21:19) were fourth and fifth. Although they didn't place in the top 20 in the girls' open division, juniors Jennifer Simmons (26:38) and Emily Adams (27:15) had their career-best times.

The season's getting short now for Marshall, with only one meet -- Thursday's Richmond Invitational -- remaining before the Class 3, District 5 meet Nov. 1.