On Tuesday, October 11th, at the Owensville City Park, the Owensville Cross Country Invitational was held. The meet began at 4:00 P.M. The top 20 finishers of high school races received medals, while the middle school top 15 finishers earned medals. Middle school races are 1.5 miles, whereas the high school races are 3.1.
The first race of the day was the middle school boys’ race. The first finisher for the NHMS was Charlie Roth, coming in 5th place, with a time of 9:28. Logan Williams, coming in close behind Roth with a time of 9:32, placed 8th. Mitchell Meyer crossed the finish line with a time of 15:34.
The middle school girls’ race took place next. Adison Gale, 7th, and Emily Delgado, 9th, finished mere seconds from each other, with Gale at 11:25 and Delgado at 11:27. Emma Brez (13:04) and Haleigh Nicholas (13:19) rounded out the team.
The junior varsity high school boys’ race was run next. Riley Otten, 9th overall, came in first for the Shamrocks, with a time of 20:20. Keagan Huff, 17th, and Colton Ruediger, 16th, also received medals for their finishes. Domenic Olson ran a time of 22:08, Austin Moeckli at 22:36, and finishing last for New Haven, Hunter Garren, with a time of 23:06. The New Haven JV team ended with a score of 97 points, at 4th place overall.
Following the end of the JV race, the varsity girls’ race began. Due to the amount of runners and the narrowness of the starting chute, Julia McIntyre got boxed in and was unable to get a good lead on her competition. “I got really nervous and panicked about not being able to catch back up. It was a learning experience for me as now I know that I have to really push myself at the start,” McIntyre stated in regards to her meager finish. She ended up coming in 2nd place, with a time of 20:39, behind Allie Gibbs of Steelville. Coming in 2nd for the Shamrocks and 28th overall was Grace Allgaier. Her time was 23:46 -- her new personal best. Lydia Lagemann (24:19) and Lucy Roth (24:49) finished in 35th and 41st place. Emily Lewis, coming in 5th for the team, ran a time of 27:14. Natalie Hoerstkamp, Cece Malone, and Audrey Ford came in close together at 81st, 83rd, and 86th place, respectively. The New Haven girls’ team ended up scoring 117 points overall, in 4th place.
The varsity boys’ race was the final of the day. Finishing 6th overall, Joesph Rethemeyer came in first for the Shamrocks, with a time of 17:53. Next for the Shamrocks was Tim Madden, coming in 24th, with a time of 18:59. Martin Lewis came in 37th place at 19:59. Bubba Gale came in at 20:34 with a place of 49th; Dalton Gerdes at 20:45; Dominic Lewis, coming in 56th overall, ran a time of 20:47. Ryan Blankenship finished last for the team, with a time of 21:34. The team finished overall with a total of 154 points in 7th place. Martin Lewis stated as, “I feel like, thinking of the circumstances of missing two of our best runners, that we did really well. After the race I was really hard on myself and the team for our finishes, but after looking at how our team did despite the circumstances, I am proud.”
The next meet will be the Borgia Invitational at Big Driver in Washington, this Saturday, October 15th. This meet will be the last regular season race, with the conference meet in St. Clair on Tuesday, October 18, and then Districts in Bowling Green on Saturday, October 29.