The Ladyneck and Roughneck Cross Country teams returned to Union Grove High School for the district meet this weekend. The varsity girls started the morning off with top ten finishes from Sophie Fisher, 3rd, 13:20, and Maddie Hart, 5th, 13:35. Senior Ally Tatum finished out her career in 13th for 14:37 in a race that saw 34 runners. In the varsity boys race Junior Cooper Tucker was the district runner up in a time of 17:55. Niko Soto also collected hardware placing fifth in a time of 18:26. Logan Langewisch and Nathan Stronger just missed collected some hardware finishing in 11th, 19:01, and 12th, 19:05. Henrick Rider finished the team scoring in 25th for 19:43. The Roughnecks finished in second place with 42 points in a race that saw 33 competitors. The junior varsity team also finished in second place with a team score of 41 points. Four Roughnecks collected medals in this race by finishing in the top ten. Luke Bueno, 3rd, 20:19, Cole Jordan, 6th, 20:51, Nathan Watson, 7th, 21:02, and Emry Morris, 10th, 21:24. Kaleb Glenn finished out the team scoring in 20th with a team of 22:53. The top ten individuals and top three in the varsity races will advance to the Region II competition in Arlington on October 20th at Harold Patterson Sports Complex.
The junior high teams concluded the season today at the district meet. The girls race saw 42 runners complete the two mile course. Mia Olvera led the Ladynecks with a sixth place finish for a personal best of 14:43. Olivia Applegate also finished in the top ten with a tenth place finish in 15:13 another personal record. McKenna Paul improved her time again this weekend with a 30th place finish in 19:06. Gemma Schwarz was 37th in a time of 20:19. Sutton Spencer led the Roughnecks in the boys race with a fifth place finish in a time 12:50. Christian Oynes ran another personal best for the season with a 13:47 finish for 13th place. Patton Breechen also ran another personal record finishing in 16th place for 14:08. Leyton Lincoln and Skeeter Maxwell also turned in personal records today. Lincoln finished in 23rd place for 15:05 and Maxwell was 27th for 15:31. The team finished in 4th place with a score of 70 points. There were several great racing performances from the junior high runners today. They represented the maroon and white with poise, toughness, and pride. All of the runners were first time competitors in the cross country program this season. They have been come a long way this season.
The district meet is always a point of transition during the season. It always seems we are in a hurry up and get there state from June until October. This season feels like it has moved faster than normal. It feels like June 1st was just a few days ago as we embarked on our summer training. We have had a senior heavy team this season. It also feels like yesterday Nathan and Logan were sitting under the tree at NTCC in Mt. Pleasant waiting for their first district race to start. I would like to thank the seniors for their commitment, dedication, and loyalty to the cross country program throughout their careers. You are each unique and intelligent with different personalities. While your personalities are different, your purposes unique, your talents vast, you have commonality of just very simply being good people. You have a heart for each other, each of teammates, and this program. I am forever grateful for the mark you have left on this program, me and your teammates. See you in Arlington!