The Westonka cross country team traveled south to race in the Gerry Smith Invitational in Montgomery on September 4. With around 1,000 middle and high school students competing, the Montgomery golf course was flooded with a sea of athletes and spectators. The race produced some unique surprises, starting with the course being shortened due to a hornet nest and ending with tornado sirens blaring minutes after the start of the varsity girls race. 

Head Coach Butch Humbert reflected afterward, "It was a bizarre day, but in the end it was, as usual, a lot of good running and fierce competition by our kids. In CC, one never remembers the easy workouts or the mundane meets, so Montgomery was another great memory maker for us."

The varsity boys worked together to earn 10th place out of 28 teams on the shortened 4.75K course, finishing in a strong cluster with only 31 seconds separating their first and sixth athlete. Junior Brenden Rashleger led the way for the White Hawks boys with a time of 17:16.9, earning 62nd place out of 214 athletes. Coming in next was senior Luke Sunnarborg in 17:25, junior Drew Carlson in 17:32.1, sophomore Gabe Lundgren in 17:39, junior Levi Hays in 17:44.6, sophomore Jacob Chilson in 17:47.9, and senior Noah Huesmann in 18:27. 

The boys JV earned an impressive second place out of 17 teams and 255 athletes. The JV boys were led by sophomore Cal Pearson earning ninth place in 17:56.8 and junior Owen Trost earning 15th place in 18:06.9. 

The varsity girls race came to an abrupt ending due to extreme weather conditions. In the girls JV race, freshman Eva Savstrom earned an impressive sixth-place finish with a time of 21:18.9. 

The invitational started with 300 middle schoolers racing a shorter 2.375K course. The White Hawks were led by eighth grader Peter Berg earning a third-place medal in the boys race and seventh grader Olivia Peterson finishing eighth place in the girls race. 

Coach Humbert shared, "We are in a really good stretch of training right now. Quality practices with a little fun mixed in remains our main focus. Our team has a nice blend of athletes that primarily are seeking fitness, those that are getting stronger for their winter sports, and of course, those that love running and are willing to go the extra mile.  It is a joy to coach this team!"

The White Hawks look forward to several meets in the coming days, with a JV/MS Meet at Glencoe-Silver Lake High School on September 18, while the varsity will compete in the Roy Griak Meet at the University of Minnesota on September 20.