BARTLESVILLE BRUINS CROSS COUNTRY SHOWCASES GRIT WITH MEDALS AND TEAM TITLES IN TULSA-AREA MEETS
The Bartlesville Bruins cross country team raced to a third-place finish as a team in their 5K race, securing three top-15 medals at the Holland Hall meet Sept. 19.
Stephanie J Lief/BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS
Cross country runners and fans cheer on other athletes during meets.
STEPHANIE J LIEF/Bartlesville Area Sports Report
By Stephanie J Lief
Sept. 24, 2026
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
“Get on your toes and crank it up!” “Time to race and don’t pace!” “All the way through the line!”
When you attend a cross-country meet, you will hear a number of encouraging chants and comments, and spectators will practically “also run a cross country meet” to encourage their runners.
The Bartlesville Bruins took their grit to the Tulsa-area terrain over the past few weeks for some challenging races.
On a hot, muggy morning on Sept. 12, the Bruin teams participated in the Mid-Season Meet of Champions hosted by Lincoln Christian High School in Tulsa.
The Lady Bruins took seventh place out of 17 teams with an average team time of 21:39 for the 5K run. Out of 240 competitors, the varsity squad put up strong performances, with several runners hitting a season best. The top varsity finishes included Afton Miller (21:14.00), Isabella Prentice (21:20.00), Margaret King (21:49.00), Madilyn Malcom (21:51.00), Karli Serratos (22:01.00), Mikah Hightower (22:49.00) and Kimberly Kramer (24:40.00).
The Bruins took sixth place out of 21 teams with an average team time of 17:32 for the 5K run. Out of 327 runners, the top varsity finishes landed in the top 18% of the field. Notable varsity finishes included Talmage King in 17th place (16:58.00), Jim Dudley in 26th place (17:15.00), Calen Bolitho in 32nd place (17:26.00), Peter King in 47th place (17:54.00), Preston Shoesmith in 58th place (18:08.00), Wesley Pierce in 61st place (18:15.00) and Everett Ellis in 62nd place (18:17.00).
The middle school Lady Bruins captured first place out of 10 teams in the 2-mile race. Highlighting the championship finish in the 185-runner field were Madisen Dennis in fifth place (13:42.00), Jillian Lindblom in ninth place (14:02.00), Kadie Tank in 14th place (14:30.00), Penny McNall in 15th place (14:38.00), Brylee Kipps in 16th place (14:38.00), Eden Thomas in 19th place (14:44.00) and Madelyn Potter in 27th place (15:09.00).
The middle school Bruins finished fourth out of 16 teams. Top finishes included Leo Winward (13:26.00), Oliver Ellis (13:35.00), Jase Hammond (13:42.00), Jatniel Castro Reyes (14:14.00), Carter Shea (14:19.00), Joseph Laudero (15:13.00) and Jayden Brant (15:13.00).
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The Bartlesville Lady Bruins won first place in the Holland Hall meet in Tulsa on Sept. 19.
STEPHANIE J LIEF/Bartlesville Area Sports Report
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On Sept. 19, the Bruins traded the hot and muggy weather for somewhat cooler temperatures but faced harder, hilly terrain at Holland Hall in Tulsa.
Entering the event as heavy contenders for the top spots, the Lady Bruins and the middle school Lady Bruin team turned their gears up and brought the speed to grab first-place team finishes in their respective races, bringing home a total of 10 top-15 placement medals.
A deep group of 20 finishers for the varsity Lady Bruins 5K team secured the team victory. Finishers included Afton Miller (21:31.10), Margaret King (22:01.57), Madilyn Malcom (22:15.90), Karli Serratos (22:25.82), Isabella Prentice (22:26.92), Eliza Miller (23:07.71), Mikah Hightower (23:59.62), Emma Kuntz (24:46.79), Kimberly Kramer (25:04.67), Lyndsey Lief (25:52.87), Taylor Bradford (25:55.04), Keyli Alvarenga (26:28.34), Ciara Swisher (27:03.54), Sahara Stamps (27:22.80), Jolie Erne (27:46.94), Naomi Vivian (29:25.20), Sky James (29:38.66), Khloe Henry (30:20.88), Paige Lindblom (30:21.86) and Adrienne Ward (31:34.11).
In the middle school Lady Bruins 2K race, notable finishes included Madisen Dennis (12:58.96), Kadie Tank(13:24.50), Jillian Lindblom (13:29.63), Penny McNall (13:57.09), Madelyn Potter (14:04.05), Candace Broch(14:40.79) and Brylee Kipps (14:43.25).
The Bruins raced to a third-place finish as a team in their 5K race, securing three top-15 medals. Finishers included Preston Shoesmith (17:57.00), Jim Dudley (17:58.48), Talmage King (18:06.22), Peter King(18:43.35), Wesley Pierce (18:48.60), Blake Crow (19:24.07) and Everett Ellis (19:30.10).
The junior varsity Bruins turned it up in their 5K race to capture a second-place team finish. The performance featured four medal placements, led by a first-place individual finish from Elijah Burchett(19:19.65) and a second-place finish from Logan Barnes (19:22.10). Rounding out the junior varsity finishers were Oliver Humble (20:12.81), Emerson Shawhan (20:29.25), Caleb Taylor (20:33.76), Payson Winward (20:47.18), Joshua Silkowski (21:03.98), Kayden Swisher (21:09.26), Anderson Malcom (21:46.75), Ayden Cole (22:15.17), Sam Roper (23:02.92), Oliver Bulleigh (23:15.58) and Kaden Oliveira (28:08.16).
The middle school Bruins left Holland Hall with a third-place team finish in the 2K run to cap off the weekend. Notable finishers included Leo Winward (12:06.65), Jase Hammond (12:33.94), Benji Castro (12:55.07), Carter Shea (13:19.32), Caidon Bryant (13:37.72), Levi Thrasher (14:08.76) and Joseph Laudero (14:18.32).
A medal from the Mid-Season Meet of Champions hosted by Lincoln Christian High School in Tulsa on Sept. 12
STEPHANIE J LIEF/Bartlesville Area Sports Report