The Orioles cross country team had two meets last week. On Tuesday September 23 they competed in Cadott. Freshman Hunter Ogle was the only one of the boys to set his PR in this race, breaking 21 minutes for the first time to finish in 20:46. John Smit was again the highest finisher for the Orioles placing 7th out of 131 boys and was the fastest freshman by almost 30 seconds. The on Friday September 26 they raced a special nighttime meet at Marshfield’s River’s Edge golf course. John Smit crossed the line in under 18 minutes for the first time this season and Cameron Natzke finished under 19 minutes with his PR as well. Most improved for the boys were freshman Seth Lilla and his brother Eli who finished back to back in 21:53 and 21:56, both a minute faster than their previous bests.
In the girls race at Cadott sophomores Haylee Shakal and Mariah Wehling crossed the finish line at the same time down to the tenth of a second. Both recorded a time of 21:52.6, earning them ninth and tenth place in the field of 101 girls. At the Nightfall race on Friday seven of the eight girls set their season best marks with many of them improving their best time by 30 seconds. Most improved for the Orioles was freshman Annelysse Kramschuster who bested her previous season record by a minute and 23 seconds.
“It’s a fast course and I was glad to see everyone run fast,” said coach Nick Mahr, “Annelysse improving that much immediately puts us in the race for second in the Cloverbelt. Everyone gets faster as the year goes on. We have to improve more than our opponents are improving to be able to beat them. Several of our runners are doing that. When you start to beat runners that you used to lose to it’s a great feeling and lets you know all the hard work is paying off.”
Full results from the meet in Cadott can be found at PTtiming.com. Results from the Nightfall race are on ADEsport.com.
The Orioles competed at Owen-Withee on Tuesday Sept. 30 and at Tower Ridge Recreation Center on Saturday Oct. 4.