Above: Nathan Strobel had his best time of the year on the Sleepy Eye golf course.
Breaking 18:00 for the first time, Nathan Strobel led the way for the Crusader cross-country team in Sleepy Eye on Thursday.
Jorden Rossow and TJ Waldron for the varsity boys and Jewel Factor for the varsity girls ran their fastest times of the season as well.
“All of our athletes have been working very hard the past few weeks getting ready for the final few meets of the year,” said head coach Dale Compton. “Everyone ran really well. We love to see times start to drop as we approach conference and sections, and that's exactly what happened. It was a beautiful night to race and the athletes took advantage of the great conditions.”
Among a pack of 83, Strobel finished in 13th place with a 17:59, Rossow was 22nd with a 18:17, and Waldron came in 36th with a 19:27.
Also for the Crusaders, Oleguer Costales was 14th (18:05), Sam Vetter was 18th (18:13), James Younge was 20th (18:15), Corbin Deichman was 24th (18:27), Soren Kelly was 32nd (19:04), Carter Zimmerman was 33rd (19:15), and Andrw Bulboltz was 38th (19:37). The fastest time was 16:35.
Factor came in 43rd of 65 runners with a 25:39. Molly Koester finished first for the Crusader varsity girls and 17th overall with a 22:35. Kathryn Hisken was 19th with a 23:01, Grayce Monson came in 29th with a 24:08, and Cora Koester was 44th with a 25:39. Alexa Bolstad was 65th with a 39:12.
In the junior high boys 1600-m race, Matthew Soupir was fourth (6:31), Mitchel Bulboltz was seventh (6:44), Thomas Soupir was ninth (6:55), Elijah Mons was 10th (6:56), Isaac Coudron was 14th (17:21), and Jack Sullivan was 22nd (8:30). There were 23 runners, and the winning time was 6:19.
For the junior high girls 1600, Charlotte Kirshner finished first for the Crusaders and seventh overall with a 7:29. Valentina Rohlfing was 11th with an 8:03, and Hannah Coudron was 12th with an 8:19. There were 17 runners, and the winning time was 7:09.
On Saturday, September 25, the Crusaders competed at the Milaca Mega Meet. In one of four varsity divisions, Strobel was 41st with a 18:25.30, Rossow was 84th with a 19:39.40, and Waldron was 113th with a 20:19.20. There were 195 running in the division, and the winning time was 16:01.5
Factor was 142nd in the varsity girls race with a 27:24. Mons was 206th in the eighth-grade 3200 with a 15:05.90. Charlie Maxfield was 214th in the seventh grade 3200 with a 16:43.00
Next up for the Crusaders is a meet at Madelia this Thursday followed by the Valley Conference Championship meet, which will be hosted by Martin County West in Welcome on Tuesday, October 18.
TJ Waldron (right) had his best race this year.
Jewel Factor (left) also had her fastest best 5K of the year.
Jorden Rossow (center) runs beside his teammates.
Elijah Mons comes down the home stretch.
Sixth grader Valentina Rohlfing was back in action after missing a week of practice due to quarantine.