Article by Steven Hendrixson, MHS Student Writer
This past Saturday, the Boys’ and Girls’ Junior High cross country teams traveled to Shelbyville, Illinois to take part in the Shelbyville XC Invitational.
General Dacey Trail is a dense bike trail with narrow paths and multiple gentle, rolling hills.
With the course being in a forest, most of the race was shaded by tall trees. Unlike other courses that are traditionally run on grassy surfaces, Dacey Trail is a course run completely on gravel, meaning that most runners choose to wear their trainers or racing flats rather than their actual racing spikes. It is a two-mile course that provides a moderate challenge to beginners and veterans alike, with the hills designed as a changer to a runner’s pace.
The boys were a team to beat, placing 4th out of 20 teams with a combined low score of 116 points, with five runners running a sub 13-minute two-mile. The Cubs were led by 8th-place medalist Chase Paulsen, who finished with a fast 11:56.56 time, a sub 12 minute two mile in only September.
Grayson Edwards and Griffin Thompson also ran well for the Cubs; Edwards with a 12:09.32 15th place finish and Thompson with a 12:16.71 21st place finish. The pair were less than eight seconds apart from one another.
Cooper Morey finished in 35th place in a 12:40.74, Emmett Maurer finished 37th in a 12:48.75, Sam Wernz finished 80th with a 14:40.42 time, and Owen Ockerman finished 102nd in 15:38.31.
The Lady Cubs also did very well.
Brynna Farrell finished 5th out of 111 runners, medaling with an impressive 13:39.8 time; Caroline Nave placed 68th in 16:22.69; Carrigan Crumrin finished 88th with a 17:43.74 time; and Molly Cooper placed 95th with an 18:44.93 time.
The Cubs will host Lawrenceville Parkview, Paris Mayo, Sarah Scott, and Robinson Nuttall at Mill Creek on Wednesday September, 16th.