The Mound Westonka cross country team headed to Collinwood Park to compete in the Dassel-Cokato Invite on Sept. 26. Before the races started, the rainy weather gave the course a good soaking, but skies cleared just in time to compete. 

Both varsity teams faced a hilly course and tough competition, along with athlete illnesses and injuries. For the boys, the first White Hawks to cross the finish line were juniors Isaac Hays (18:22) and Andrew Finley (18:29). The next four teammates to cross were sophomore Noah Huesmann (19:12), ninth grader Owen Trost (19:15), sophomore Luke Sunnarborg (19:26) and senior Brandon Knock (19:32). The girl’s team had an impressive third place finish with two runners placing in the top twenty: ninth grader Sophia Engesser (13th place/21:02) and ninth grader Anna Regenold (16th place/ 21:21). Also contributing to the teams great performance were junior Audrey Kirscht (21:36), sophomore Emma Andrev (21:39), junior Brooke Garlock (22:25), senior Cassie Nemecek (22:33) and junior Claire Rashleger (24:07).

The junior varsity boys team placed third out of eight teams. Drew Carlson led the way taking 6th place (19:46), followed by Brendan Rashleger in 9th place (20:01). Sophomore Gavin Thelen (20:08),   junior Miles Lund (20:08), ninth graders Jensen Blackstad (21:38), Reece Blackstad (23:00), August Lang (23:08) and Henry Ruegemer (23:20) completed the strong team. 

This week’s race for the middle school was the longest distance (3K) of the season. Leading for the boys was eighth grader Gabriel Lundgren in 5th place (12:28), followed by eighth graders Jacob Chilson (12:44) in 8th place and Griffin Lund in 12th place (13:31). Leading for the girls was seventh grader Lydia Engesser taking 2nd place (14:21), seventh grader Hadley Hoag in 6th place (14:53), and eighth grader Elise Hays in 10th place (15:05).

The team’s next competition will be the Thundering Royal Elk meet held in Otsego on Thursday, Oct. 5.