Derrick leads Neuqua boys to UEC Valley title

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Updated: November 18, 2011 2:37PM

Talk about spectacular.

Saturday’s Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division championship meet saw the Neuqua Valley boys finish first, Wildcat Mark Derrick win the individual title and Waubonsie Valley’s Ashley Bruner take second in the girls race.

Neuqua Valley won the meet title with 27 points, as Waubonsie Valley (73) and Metea Valley (100) finished Nos. 3 and 4 on the boys side. Derrick completed the 3-mile course in 14 minutes, 59 seconds and Bruner ran her race in 18:11.

“(Metea Valley’s) Joe Stewart is a great runner,” Derrick said of the second-place finisher. “He never gave up. He was there all the way till like 400 (meters) to go, so he was a really tough competitor.”

Neuqua Valley’s Taylor Soltys (15:17) finished third and the Wildcats placed six runners in the top 12 overall. The 12 top finishers in each race earned all-conference status.

Metea Valley twins Joe (15:07) and Matt Stewart (15:32) finished second and fourth, respectively.

Bruner’s team finished fourth with 97 points. Metea Valley (58) was second and Neuqua Valley (66) placed third in the girls standings.

Warriors teammate Kristina Chapman was 10th overall with a time of 19:22.

“She really, really pushed it and everybody did, so I’m really proud of the team today,” Bruner said.

Bruner finished third a year ago in the UEC meet, so this year’s placement was a slight improvement. She realistically didn’t expect to beat Lake Park’s Kaylee Flanagan, who ran a 17:24 race.

“I was really going for a second-place finish,” Bruner explained. “Kaylee Flanagan’s obviously ranked about first in the state right now, so I was really trying to get a PR but the wind didn’t help that today.”

Flanagan won conference last year also.

Metea Valley girls Kendall Cast (18:36) and Lauren Lindholm (18:41) were third and fourth.