Don't look now, but the Boscobel boys' cross-country team is peaking at the right time.
With Ryan Mindham winning the individual por-tion of the race, the Bull-dogs easily bested the seven-team field at Saturday's Riverdale Invite as their scoring runners all placed within the top 11 competitors.
"It was a great race for the boys," said Boscobel coach Skyler Reynolds. "They have been working very hard and continuing to improve. They still have their best races to come as we have not backed off at all."
It was an odd meet for the Boscobel girls, who placed second as a team despite having the top two individual finishers in Keely Foley and Samantha Wilcox.
River Valley's 58 points edged the Bulldogs by two points, as Boscobel finished with 60.
As a team, the Bulldog boys tallied 26 points. The next closest team was River Valley, which finished with 77.
It was a warm fall day for all runners.
"It was warm, but it was warm all week, and we practiced very well in it," said Reynolds. "It was fairly cool in the morning when we ran. Overall, it was a nice day to race. That is one of the things about cross country: you have to be prepared to compete in any conditions."
Ryan Mindham's 17:33 topped all runners, and Cameron Cashman took third among individual runners with a time of 17:45.
Eric Mindham also finished in the top five for Boscobel, turning in a time of 18:06.
Other scoring runners for Boscobel were Logan Wacker (18:21) and Jon Frazier, who finished ninth and 11th, respectively.
With the SWAL conference meet on Thursday at Riverale, the Bulldog girls are still looking for that breakout performance.
"We haven't popped that one big race yet, so I think that is very exciting for our runners," said Reynolds. "They are racing well, but certainly have not peaked. We will see that over the next few weeks."
Again, Foley took first-place honors, winning in 16:25. Wilcox was close on her heels, running a 16:35 to place second. In sixth place was Shelby Davis (16:50) and Brady Borowski was 14th (17:31). Autumn Moret rounded out the scoring by placing 37th (18:28).
Following the SWAL championships, Boscobel will host sectionals on Oct. 22.