XC WEEK 1 RECAP

The cross country teams opened up their season last week with 2 weeks. We started the week with the Preble County Championships on Monday. The county meet is small but a great introduction to racing. High school boys ran the first race with 24 total runners. Merek Mumm started his senior season leading the way for the blazers and joining the All-County team. He had a 6th place finish in 19:48.4. Bryce rounded out the top 10 in 21:25.8 and Preston was right behind in 11th in a 21:30.2. The high school girls were next and placed 2 on the All-County team. Ioma Alavez was county runner-up and Kira Rutan placed 4th. Taygen Toothman finished in 9th. Junior high boys were team county champions and were lead by 7th grader Zeke Klein who was the individual county champion in 11:24.3. Wyatt Overly was 3rd in 12:43.2 and Landen Rogers placed 5th in 14:40.2. Junior high girls had Dalila Alavez leading the way in 9th, followed by Myka Smith in 12th.

The teams ran their first invitational on Saturday at Milton-Union. The Bob Schul is one of the largest invitationals the teams will see. High school boys had 320 runners in it. Merek Mumm ran a new PR 18:47.8 and placed 65th to receive a ribbon. Preston Barnes ran 20:00.7 and placed 116th and Bryce Couvutsakis was right behind him in 124th with a 20:10.0. High school girls had 185 runners in it. Ioma Alavez cut off some time to finish in 23:39.1 to receive 61st place and a ribbon. Kira Rutan finished in 24:55.8 to place 100th, Maddison Loranzan finished her first 5k in 26:31.5, and Taygen Toothman ran 29:06.4. Junior high boys had the largest race of the day with 427 runners and had to battle some heat. Zeke Klein worked through a congested race to get a ribbon and place 17th in 12:01.9. Wyatt Overly also received a ribbon with a 56th place finish in 12:45.0. Landen Rogers placed 185th in 14:41.0. Junior high girls ended the day. Dalila Alavez completed the course in 20:10.2 and Myka Smith ran 27:33.4.