OBSERVER Staff Report

ALLEGANY — The Silver Creek Black Knights cross country team had solid finishes from both the boys and girls in the Southern Tier Invitational on Saturday at Allegany-Limestone High School.

In the muddy, 2.8 mile course, the Silver Creek girls finished second, only to Clymer-Sherman-Panama. The Silver Creek boys were incomplete, but had three runners in the top 30.

“CSP ran an excellent race, and we followed right behind,” said Silver Creek head coach Mike Janisch.

The rain stopped shortly before the race began, which created what Janisch called “very tough, very muddy conditions.” However, Mother Nature did not rain on Ellie Decker’s parade.

Decker finished second overall at the meet, with a time of 19:07. Juliana Flick joined her in the top 10, with a time of 20:10, good for eighth place. Daisy League was third among Silver Creek girls with a 16th place time of 21:06. Melanie Wilson (21:30), Julia Kennedy (22:34), Mikayla Clark (22:54) and Emma Romanik (23:08) all placed in the top 35.

The three top 30 finishers for the Silver Creek boys team were Riley Wilson, Gabe Rhodes and Josh Bunnell. Wilson finished 12th in 18:19, Rhodes right behind in 14th in 18:29, while Bunnell was 29th with a time of 19:47.

Silver Creek is back in action on Tuesday at Long Point State Park, Maple Grove’s home course.