The Marion cross country team enjoyed beautiful fall weather for its home meet Thurs?day at the Marion Country Club. The event drew area teams from Canton-Galva, Goessel and Peabody-Burns.
?Everybody did very well at the home meet,? said Marion coach Rebecca Hofer. ?There was some good competition and it was a beautiful day.?
Jordan Hett led the Marion boys to a second-place team finish with 69 points. Hett placed third in the 5-kilometer race in 17 minutes, 40 seconds.
Patrick McCarty also made the top 10, finishing sixth in 18:47. He was followed by Jacob Cope (15th, 19:22), Timothy Knolla (17th, 19:44), Clark Kroupa (36th, 21:11), Quinton Hett (40th, 21:34) and Jared Hague (54th, 22:48).
Freshman Mackenzie Rem?mers set the pace for the Marion girls, placing 22nd in 17:24 on the 4-k course. She was followed by Kaelyn Thierolf (29th, 17:49) and Erin Meierhoff (44th, 19:38).
Shyla Harris placed 11th (19:52) in the junior-varsity race.
Hofer said the girls ran well, with Remmers, Meierhoff and Harris setting personal-best times, and Thierolf clocking her best time so far this season.
?Several of the runners? times were slower compared to last week, but our home course is quite a bit hillier then the open field in Peabody,? Hofer said. ?Even so, we will need to work hard to keep improving.?
Eli Janzen paced the Canton-Galva runners by finishing 21st in 19:58. Competing in the junior varsity race were Lane Weins (fourth, 22:14), Ren Dieker (15th, 23:39), Trey Wedel (29th, 26:20) and Ben Young (32nd, 27:46).
For the CGHS girls, Brittany Dieker finished fifth in the JV race in 18:54, followed by Jacey Cantrell (18th, 21:55), Katie Diehl (22nd, 23:44) and Krystal May (23rd, 23:44).
Goessel?s Ali Buller earned the highest finish among area schools, cruising to 17th place in 16:58. Competing in the JV race were Kylee Unruh (fourth, 18:52), Amelia Kirner (25th, 25:03), Stacee Kershner (26th, 25:05) and Rebekah Herrel (27th, 26:28).
Heath Goertzen earned a medal to help the Bluebird boys to sixth place with 124 points; placed 19th in 19:52.
Goertzen was followed by Davis Cook (22nd, 20:07), Grant Flaming (31st, 20:53), Nathan Czarnowsky (33rd, 21:00), Ben Weins (37th, 21:13), Jake Herrel (47th, 22:16) and Dan Smucker (60th, 23:21).
Running in the JV race were David Hesse (eighth, 22:53), Christian Konen (17th, 23:54), Zach Wiens (19th, 24:15), Aaron Woelk (24th, 25:00), Dane Kruger (28th, 26:17), Henrik Feltens (30th, 27:18) and Garrett Woelk (35th 28:36).
Zach Preheim, Peabody-Burns? only varsity competitor, finished 32nd in the boys? race in 20:59. Christian Chastain placed second in the JV race at 21:22.
Coming?Marion, Canton-Galva and Peabody-Burns will compete at Halstead Thursday, with races beginning at 4:30 p.m. Goessel will compete at the Berean Academy Invitational Sept. 27.