The lights were on early for City High Cross Country runners this past Saturday morning. Both the girls and boys teams attended the Pleasant Valley meet, where many of City High’s runners placed.
“In the Junior Varsity race, Adam Schaefer ‘25 and George Karr ‘25 both medaled, with George placing second overall. For Freshman/Sophomore we had two places high enough for medals: Will Carey ‘27 and Emmett Palmberg ‘27,” runner Dylan Beerends ‘25 said.
The Varsity squad placed 8th overall out of 15 teams, some of which were the best in the state. Both the JV and Freshman/Sophomore teams placed high, in 2nd and 3rd respectively. This was the team’s second meet of the season, and still, many runners got personal records, already showing promising signs for the rest of the season.
In the days leading up to the races, the team practiced running hills in preparation for Pleasant Valley’s infamously tough hills. “The coaches made the decision to make us run 7 Sisters later in the season than we would usually do just to make sure we were extra prepared,” Beerends said.
When asked about the results of the meet Beerends said, “I think the meet went pretty okay. There were some definite changes that could’ve been made to improve our varsity squad, but I think that they did very well for the most part. It is also important to mention that for almost everyone, it was their first time racing Varsity so some nerves could’ve gotten in the way.”
The Boys Cross Country team hopes to keep improving as the season progresses and believes that with Coach Skay, the team’s head coach, they will be able to make it back up to being ranked in the top ten. The team will race again this Saturday at Luther College and have their home meet on the 28th.
