WAYNE – Cross country runners made their way to the Wayne Country Club Monday late afternoon for the WHS Cross Country Invite.
In the girls division, Norfolk Catholic edged Wayne High 25-29, while Battle Creek came in third with 39 points and Wisner-Pilger rounded out the team results with 48 points.
A pair of Pierce freshman stole the show from 33 runners as Alexus Sindelar crossed the 5,000-meter finish line in 21:11.92, nearly a minute ahead of teammate Callie Arnold in second (22:09.67). Norfolk Catholic’s sophomore Emily Faltys placed third (22:18.07), followed by three Hartington-Newcastle runners of junior Jayda Bernecker (fourth – 22:44.73), junior Sara Reifenrath (fifth – 22:59.77) and sophomore Sara Burbach (sixth – 23:15.19).
Wayne High’s top runners were senior Gabi Meyer placing eighth in time of 23:56.15 and senior Madison Jenkens took 15th (26:18.4). Other Wayne runners were sophomore Karlee Janke (17th – 27:09.69), junior Faith Junck (18th – 27:09.73) and senior Sarah Grennwald (21st – 28:24.39).
Other top area female runners: Ponca’s freshman Mackenzie Schram (13th – 25:48.5); Wisner-Pilger’s Claire Raabe (14th – 26:04.72); Laurel-Concord-Coleridge’s senior Kayli Naeve (24th – 29:48.68) and Winside’s senior Lucy Larsen (31st – 33:40.73).
Norfolk Catholic came away as team champions In the boys division with 14 points, followed by Pierce in second with 36 points, Hartington-Newcastle took third with 52 points and Wisner-Pilger rounded out the top four teams with 63 points.
Wayne High placed fifth (120) as Winside also scored 120 points to finish sixth, Ponca took seventh (131), Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (eighth – 143) and Winnebago (ninth – 146).
Sophomore Mason Sindelar of Pierce posted a 17:53.19 to win the boys 5k which featured 79 runners, followed by four Norfolk Catholic athletes.
Wayne High’s top performer was a top 20 finish by sophomore Christopher Woerdemann in 19th during a time of 20:05.48. Other Blue Devil male runners were senior Brandon Wacker (31st – 21:15.74), sophomore Treyton Blecke (37th – 22:14.3), sophomore Liam Spieker (48th – 23:17.93), freshman Kaden Hopkins (49th – 23:18.5) and sophomore Sean Aschoff (50th – 23:38.37).
Other area top results came from Wisner-Pilger’s senior Calby Ruskamp (sixth – 18:40.81); Winside’s sophomore Toby Heinemann (17th – 19:56.85); Laurel-Concord-Coleridge’s freshman Dillon Olson (25th – 20:38.98) and Ponca’s sophomore Caden Schram (32nd – 21:19.38).
The Wayne High girls and boys cross country team is back in action on Thursday, September 13 during the Columbus Scotus Invite.
