LEADER OF THE PACK — Eighth-grader Katharine Lewer continues to lead the NRHEG girls’ cross country team. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
The NRHEG cross country teams were in action at Waseca’s Lakeside Golf Club last Tuesday for the Waseca Invitational.
The boys finished sixth among six schools and the girls were fifth.
Waseca won the boys’ meet with 27 points, followed by Farmington with 58, Maple River 76, USC/AC 96, Grizzlies 143 and NRHEG 151.
Individual places were not available, but T.J. Schiltz continued to lead the Panthers, finishing with a time of 17:15.5. Jade Waltz clocked 20:29, Raece Johnson 21:08, Tyler Holz 22:59, Dustin Burshem 23:18 and Gunther Olson 24:05.
“T.J. is running against some of the familiar faces he will be seeing in the section, and today we were in the mix with the top Waseca and USC/AC runners,” said Panthers coach Mike Weber. “We know in a couple weeks we have got to get a little better. T.J. is a hard worker, and we believe he can lower this time. Jade’s time has been extremely consistent the last few weeks. Raece ran well along with Tyler. Dustin dropped a half minute for his best race of the year. He had a nice finish, out-sprinting an opponent down the stretch, refusing to let the runner pass. Gunther continues to improve.”
Waseca scored 32 points to win the girls’ meet. USC/AC was second with 46, followed by Farmington at 64, Grizzlies 99 and NRHEG 138. Maple River did not field a full squad.
NRHEG’s times: Katharine Lewer, 17:32; Missy Malakowsky, 18:36; Shantaya Olson, 19:34; Crystal Olson, 19:55; Kimberly Narvaez 21:28; Destinee Meyer, 21:31; Megan Conley, 22:49.
“Katharine faced a tough field of very good runners,” said Weber. “We were pleased with her time, as it is coming down. She finished around 20th overall. Missy had her best race of the year. She did a good job in keeping Kat within view in the course. Shantaya ran a consistent time compared to her last few outings. Crystal had one of her best races of the season, if not her best. Kimberly cut a minute off her time and is getting more comfortable with each competition. Destinee was also impressive, following in Kimberly’s shadow to drop a minute from her time. Megan continued the trend with her best race of the season. The girls had a very nice day on the course, and the high level of competition they faced might have helped them reach some of their personal bests.”
The Panthers ran Tuesday at USC. They’re at Madelia Tuesday, Oct. 18.
