Missing the state meet by just one slot last October, their first absence since 2015, was on the minds of the Crusaders varsity boys cross country team on Thursday when they regrouped for their first competitive race since then at the Gerry Smith Invitational on the Montgomery International golf course.
But despite not having a meet last week, since their home meet on the hill was cancelled due to weather, the Crusaders finished fourth of 29 teams.
Meanwhile, in the girls varsity race, eighth grader Charlotte Meyer took second place.
Crossing the finish line in 16:37.7, Soren Kelly won the varsity race. He was way out front for most of the 3.1 miles, but the challenger closed the gap down the stretch and finished 4.8 seconds behind.
With a 17:47.0 finish, Sam Vetter was 23rd. With an 18:08.8, TJ Waldron was 33rd. With an 18:14.6, Kyle Zimmerman was 37th. With an 18:38.3, Mitchell Buboltz was 47th. Pushing the front five along were Chase Kijenski with a 19:40.0 for 86th place and Andrew Tieva with a 21:13.8 for 132nd place.
Last year, Kelly and the team as well were third. This year, Buboltz filled the slot of graduated Nathan Strobel.
While Waldron likes the Monty meet for its large number of participants, 197 in the varsity boys race, he was disappointed he came in six seconds slower than last year. But his placing was 13 slots higher.
The Crusader girls finished seventh among 25 teams. Meyer completed the race in a PR 18:54.5, 33 seconds less than her best time last season. The bronze finisher was over 28 seconds behind her. The winner, a senior from Fairmont, finished the course in 18:20.70. There were 172 runners competing.
“Once I got the girl behind me off my back, I tried to catch the girl in front if me,” said Meyer, who cut has already surpassed her goal to break 19 minutes this season.
Also for the Crusader varsity girls, Gisele McCabe was 35th with a 21:40.6. Fighting through an injury, Valerie Quast was 57th with a 22:19.9. Kate Daly was 64th with a 22:48.4, and Izzy Endres was 65th with a 22:49.9.
Prodding at the Crusader top five were Molly Koester with a 22:50.5 for 67th place and Teya Waagner with a 24:25.5 for 99th place.
In the junior high boys 2500, eighth-grader Reece Nelson was 22nd with a 10:19.8, sixth-grader Griffin Rutz was 28th with a 10:32.8, and seventh-grader Andrew Giebel was 88th with an 11:48.6.
The winning time among the 153 runners was 9:21.8. The Crusader’s Francis Bierer was 2.4 seconds behind for second place.
In the junior high girls race, eighth-grader Harper Rutz came in 62nd with a 12:45.7
The winning time among the 138 runners was 10:05.5. The Crusader’s Riley Quigley finished in 10th place with a 10:42.5.
In the boys JV 5 K, Elijah Mons, a junior, finished with a 22:35.6 for 82nd place while freshman Jax Leagjeld was 155th with a 25.13.3.
The winning time among the 200 runners was 18:44.0. The Crusader’s Rollie Matejcek took fourth place with a 19:37.0.
On August 23, the Crusaders ran a preseason meet on the Winthrop golf course. With a 20:16.1 finish, Meyer won the varsity girls race.
With meets every week, the Crusaders will not reschedule their home meet from last week. They head up to Baylor Park in Norwood Young America on Tuesday, September 10.
Above: The varsity 5K team of Andrew Tieva, Chase Kijenski, Mitchell Buboltz, Kyle Zimmerman, Soren Kelly, Sam Vetter and TJ Waldron.
