The NRHEG High School cross country teams ran at the Waseca Invitational Thursday, Oct. 2.
The boys finished eighth among nine squads while the girls were last out of six schools.
Tyler Schlaak continued to lead the boys, taking 37th in 19:21, but Josh Fleming was right on his heels in 39th with a time of 19:29. Following for NRHEG: Zach Mely, 43rd, 19:43; Brenden McMann, 51st, 20:39; Ben Lewer, 54th, 20:50.
Faribault won the boys’ meet with 36 points, followed by Waseca with 45 and Jordan 47. The Panthers had 224 points, defeating Medford.
“Tyler led us with a respectable time with the obstacles of rain and mud in Waseca,” said coach Mike Weber. “Josh had his best time of the season. Zach continues to improve and also had his best time of the season, as did Ben and Aaron. Overall, the boys did as well as one could hope, as time dropped for nearly everyone.”Running for the NRHEG girls: Sandra Quezada, 31st, 18:44; Missy Malakowsky, 36th, 19:34; Katherine Lewer, 37th, 19:35; Jade Mely, 38th, 19:36; Marissa Mortenson, 41st, 21:44.
Waseca won with 30 points. The Panthers totaled 183.
“Sandra led the girls with a second-best effort of the season,” said Weber. “Sandra just seems to get better each week. Missy also had her second-best of the season. She had a strong race. Katharine was a couple steps behind Missy, while Jade Mely came in a step behind Katharine. This was Jade’s first varsity meet and she met and exceeded expectations. We told her to stick by Missy as best as she could – and that is exactly what she did. Rounding out the scoring, Marissa turned in her best time of the season.”
The Panthers ran Tuesday in the USC Invitational. They host the Gopher Conference meet on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Riverview Golf Course.