Loyal-Greenwood boys take first at Oct. Colby cross country meet

In one of the largest meets they have competed in so far this season, the Loyal-Greenwood boys took first place with finishes in the top half of the 5,000-meter race by a majority of its athletes. The Greyhounds, along with the Spencer Rockets, competed at Colby High School on Oct. 1.

The boys ran in a 43-runner field made up of athletes from seven different schools. For the Loyal-Greenwood boys, Avery Horvath and Connor Genteman once again ran back-to-back to take top finishes for the team. Horvath ran an 18:20 to place fourth and Genteman finished fifth with a time of 18:37.

Seth Genteman was the next runner to finish for the Greyhound boys. He completed the race just under 20 minutes (19:59) to place ninth. Ashton Palms followed about 30 seconds later, coming in at the 20:29 mark for 16th. Also running for Loyal-Greenwood were Cody Eckes (20th, 28:58), Jaden Ruggles (27th, 22:35) and Vaughn Zettler (31st, 23:45).

The Spencer boys had six runners compete at Colby on Oct. 1, with all the runners placing mid-pack. Cameron Nieman was the first to cross the finish line for Spencer, taking 18th with a time of 20:38. Malachai Anderson was next, finishing in 21:25 for 22nd. Coming through two places later was Caleb Rucker (24th) who ran a 21:35. Also running for Spencer were Noah Schultz (26th, 22;17), Austyn Kohls (32nd, 23:52) and Andrew Sieracki (35th, 24:42).

The girls race had 32 runners compete. Winning the race was Savannah Schley of Loyal-Greenwood, who completed the course in 20:38 to place first. The next runner to finish for the Greyhounds came through about three minutes later in the form of Rylan Lindner. She placed sixth with a time of 23:28. Leah Scherer was next, taking 14th with a time of 25:04. Also running for the Loyal-Greenwood girls were Aubre Robida (18th, 25:45), Halle Aumann (19th, 26:12) and Maci Bogdonovich (22nd, 26:35).

The Rocket girls had only four runners compete at Colby. Leah Zastrow led the individual girls with her 10th-place finish (24:10). Emily Wehrman came through two places later in 12th with her time of 24:38. Haylee Hopperdietzel finished at the 26:25 mark for 21st and Faith Miller ran the course in 27:37 to take 25th.

The Loyal-Greenwood boys took first place at Colby with 49 points. They finished ahead of Neillsville-Granton (54), Colby-Abbotsford (61), Stanley-Boyd (67) and Spencer, which placed fifth as a team with 101 points. Both Owen-Withee and Thorp fielded incomplete boys teams.

Only three schools had complete teams in the girls race. Colby was first with 25 points, Loyal-Greenwood took second with 45 points, and Neillsville-Granton placed third with 63 points. Stanley-Boyd, Thorp, Owen-Withee and Spencer all fielded incomplete girls teams.