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Another meet, another title for No. 11 Hawks

STATE CENTER – All of those extra laps after track practice last spring, and all of those road miles during the hot and humid days of summer are certainly paying off for Gaige Pickering.

Just a freshman, he’s doing a stellar job of being a leader for the South Hamilton boys’ cross country team.

Pickering again set the pace for the 11th-ranked Hawks on Tuesday at Lincoln Valley Golf Course, as they claimed a third straight meet title at the West Marshall Invitational.

South Hamilton put five runners in the top 11 and six in the top 15 en route to 38 points. Runner-up Colo-NESCO never threatened and finished with 61.

Less than a week after being involved in a car wreck that left him shaken up, Pickering was steady over the five-kilometer course. He glided across the finish line in 18:03 to place fourth.

“Pickering has one pace and that’s good,” South Hamilton head coach Darrell Paulsen said. “He didn’t run for two days last week (after the wreck), but by Monday he was back to himself and then he ran really well (on Tuesday).”

Classmate Logan Peters bolted out to the front of the team’s pack and pulled his mates along over the first mile. He was eventually passed by Pickering and Devon Fisher, who struggled over the final 200 meters, but still finished sixth in 18:23. Peters crossed in 18:36, good enough for eighth.

“Logan went out hard like he always does and the other four stick together,” Paulsen said. “All the boys ran well again.”

Drake Thompson (18:38) was ninth and Josiah Brown (18:41) 11th to round out the scoring. Trey Woodall (20:03) claimed 15th.

The South Hamilton girls’ team tallied 85 points to slot into fourth in the team standings.

Hayley Bell was the first Hawk to complete the course; her time of 23:16 placed her ninth.

“I thought the girls ran really well, too,” Paulsen said. “Hayley Bell’s time was almost a 1:15 better than she’s run before.”

Katie Austin (24:14) and Emily Willadson (25:05) took 16th and 17th, respectively. Annie Johnson (27:03) was 23rd, and Ella Carlson (28:15) nipped teammates Raquel Holt (28:16) and Elena Schmitz (28:17) for 25th.

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