Defend the home course.

That was the goal for Owensville Middle and High School cross country runners last Tuesday night during the annual Owensville Cross Country Invitational held throughout the Gasconade County R-2 Campus.

Entering the middle school boys race with five consecutive teams title, Tyler Ahring’s OMS Dutchmen looked to make it a six pack of first-place finishes.

Having their first six guys finish in the top 20, Owensville (50) topped eight other scoring teams to add to a crowded trophy case over at Owensville Middle School.

Zach Holtmeyer led the field and the orange and black with a first-place time of 12:14.75 making him the lone medalist for the Dutchmen as only the top 10 earned medals.

Also helped OMS to yet another team title were Kylen Menz (12th, 13:17.71), Braden Perkins (14th, 13:20.95), Ty Price (15th, 13:22.53), Bryce Kramme (19th, 13:33.51), Granite Miles (20th, 13:35.45), Christopher Reyes (21st, 13:36.80), Drake Dietrich (32nd, 14:03.34), Aaiden Cox (33rd, 14:07.07), Westin Kramme (35th, 14:12.82), Corbin Brand (44th, 15:05.10), Maddix Lebish (47th, 15:13.71), Zayden Garver (52nd, 15:49.97), Brody Ridenhour (59th, 16:22.99), Nick Hinson (64th, 17:04.06), Elliott Cooper (65th, 17:04.96) and Ethan Blankenship (79th, 20:54.23).

Starting the high school portion of racing last Tuesday were the junior varsity boys.

Making up half of the top 10, Owensville’s JV Dutchmen (25) topped Pacific (35) and Hermann (68) in the team standings.

Kyle Bollman led the JV Dutchmen and the field with a winning time of 20:43.25.

Joining Bollman in the top 10 and in the medals were Umberto Bertesi (5th, 21:55.59), Aidan Ward (8th, 22:04.03), Ethan Harris (9th, 22:10.00) and Andrew Blankenship (10th, 22:16.83).

Also helping the JV Dutchmen join their OMS counterparts as team champions were Elias Medlock (15th, 23:11.77), Brandon Graham (16th, 23:12.93), Coleton Connor (17th, 23:16.27), and Eli Graham (23rd, 24:55.24).

Varsity girls racing saw nine medals stay in Gasconade County as the top 25 earned medals.

Owensville had four of them led by sophomore Ilene Limberg’s fourth-place time of 21:00.63.

Other Dutchgirls in the medals included Saylor Richardson (11th, 22:59.78), Hannah Gehlert (19th, 23:31.06) and Abbie Gibson (22nd, 23:47.37).

Hermann’s Lady Bearcats saw their top five all earn medals helping them top six other scoring teams with 48 points.

Katy Menke led Hermann’s quintet of medalists with a second-place time of 20:16.32 nearly 30 seconds behind race winner Emily Willman from Sullivan.

Joining Menke in the top 25 and the medals from Hermann were Amelia Uthlaut (3rd, 20:20.79), Alaina Worland (18th, 23:30.54), Elaina Uthlaut (20th, 23:39.20) and Alaina Heaney (23rd, 24:00.60).

Other Dutchgirls helping Owensville to a second-place team finish behind Hermann with 61 points included Lauren Kandlbinder (27th, 24:25.19), Peyton Weinland (42nd, 26:32.35), Elaina Lebish (44th, 26:48.62), Jenna Breedlove (53rd, 29:34.64), Morgen Schmidt (58th, 30:21.24) and Cassidy Gooch (61st, 30:48.03).

Rounding out the day of racing last Tuesday were the varsity boys.

Looking to join their middle school and junior varsity counterparts, Candrl’s varsity Dutchmen nearly made it a trifecta of team titles.

Owensville and Pacific tied for first place with 60 points.

Pacific ended up winning the meet having a sixth runner to break the tie while the Dutchmen had only five runners.

Leading Owensville’s quartet of medalists was junior Felix Guerrero with a seventh-place time of 18:06.26.

Rounding out OHS’ foursome of medalists in the varsity boys race were Lucas Morgan (8th, 18:10.02), Gabe Soest (11th, 18:35.41), and Xavier Bayless (15th, 19:05.09.

Noah Holtmeyer rounded out Owensville’s contingency of varsity runners with a 30th-place time of 20:37.53.

Hermann’s Nolan Kopp also cracked the top 15 to earn a medal with a sixth-place time of 18:02.34.

After running yesterday (Tuesday) in the Four Rivers Conference (FRC) cross country meet at Big Driver in Washington, Owensville will turn their attention to prepare for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 3 meet on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Fulton High School.