WALES — Lakeside Lutheran’s boys and girls cross country teams each finished fourth in the small schools division at the Pete Nielsen Laser Relays on Saturday.
“This meet is unique in that the team standings are calculated by the total team time accumulated by each varsity team’s top-five finishers,” Lakeside Lutheran cross country coach Cameron Ausen said. “Both sides competed against primarily Division 1 teams and had respectable finishes.”
The girls had fine races from sophomores Hannah Minning (21st, 21:20) and Natalie Schultz (24th, 21:31) in particular, but also had encouraging breakthroughs in the pack. Freshmen Iris Ingebrigtsen (57th, 22:14) and Esther Bohl (75th, 24:41) continue to improve as the weeks progress and senior Kate Thiele (111th, 23:44) rounded out the scoring for the girls with a personal best time.
The boys were short-handed up front and that had an impact in the team standings. Junior Grant Schmid (34th, 17:56) led the way for the boys with an aggressive first two miles. Senior Will Hemling (42nd, 18:13) was not far behind after enduring a fall early in the race. Junior Owen Jenson (53rd, 18:26) notched a lifetime best while freshman Carson Griffin (80th, 19:17) and sophomore Sam Garcia (100th, 19:51) also scored for the boys in the varsity ranks.