The NRHEG cross country teams competed in the Stewartville Invitational Thursday, Sept. 1.
A total of 18 teams scored, with the Panthers finishing 14th with 371 points. LaCrescent won with 40 and Rochester Area Home School was second with 69.
For the Panthers: Josh Fleming, 34th, 18:54; Ben Lewer, 49th, 19:50; Kollin Reese,, 88th, 22:10; Jagger Beck, 97th, 23:03; Braden Routh, 103rd, 24:04; Orin Mely, 110th 26:05.
“Josh has come out of the gate this season running well,” said coach Mike Weber. “Our goal was to run under 19 and he did that. Ben also ran well. He has been impressive thus far. We believe he will soon be breaking that 20-minute barrier. Kollin had a strong race. Kollin has shown tonight that he is going to be a good runner for us throughout this season. Jagger continues to progress as our fourth-place finisher. Braden is hoping to stay healthy and lower his times in the upcoming weeks. Orin ran a very good race. Overall, the team picked it up a notch this week.”
For the girls, Mia Williams was 70th in 25:13, Jade Mely 75th in 25:27 and Destiny Medrano 92nd in 29:51.
Stewartville won with 45 points. Rochester Area was second at 97.
“Mia had a very strong race from start to finish,” said Weber. “Destiny ran well and hit a couple goals we set for her. It is nice to see their improvement from their initial event last week. They are running well.”