Greyhound girls runners place fourth and third at last two meets

The Loyal-Greenwood cross country team competed in its last two regular meets of the season this past week, running at Black River Falls on Oct. 4 and at Arcadia on Oct. 8. As a team, the girls placed fourth on Oct. 4 and third on Oct. 8 from among their competitors while the boys saw some individual improvements to their times.

On Oct. 4, the girls team competed in an 89-runner field. Summer Smith led the Greyhounds around the 5,000-meter course and finished at the 22:53.4 mark, taking 20th overall. Bailey Eckes came next, placing 31st with her time of 24:08.0. Placing 45th was Leah Scherer, who ran a 25:32.3. Addison Holm crossed the finish a few seconds and placings later, finishing in 47th with a time of 25:35.9.

Also competing for the Loyal-Greenwood girls were Halle Aumann, who ran a 26:22.5 for 53rd, Katlund Etlicher, who finished in 26:38.1 for 57th, Aubre Robida, who placed 58th with a time of 26:39.4, and Alexis Meyer, who ran to a 59th place finish with a time of 26:40.1.

Loyal-Greenwood’s trio of boys faced a much larger field of 130 competitors at Black River Falls. Finishing 18th was Connor Genteman, who took the placing with his time of 18:25.2. Cody Eckes ran a 21:13.5 to place 73rd and Lucas Nielsen finished in 122nd with a time of 26:09.3.

As a team, the Loyal-Greenwood girls took fourth with 133 points, finishing just behind Viroqua (131), West Salem (35) and Medford (33). Also competing at the invite were Altoona (151), Mauston (166), Chippewa Valley Bolts (173), Ellsworth (174), Elk Mound (191) and Adams-Friendship, Alma Center-Lincoln, Black River Falls, Eleva-Strum, Mosinee, Neillsville-Granton and Stanley-Boyd, which all fielded incomplete girls teams.

The Loyal-Greenwood boys, along with Alma Center-Lincoln, Adams-Friendship and Eleva-Strum, fielded incomplete teams. Teams placing at Black River Falls for boys teams were West Salem (52), Mauston (56), Elk Mound (11), Medford (121), Altoona (134), Viroqua (176), Ellsworth (194), Stanley-Boyd (202), Chippewa Valley Bolts (226), Black River Falls (235), Mosinee (297) and Neillsville-Granton (331).

On Oct. 8, the Greyhounds competed in their final regular season meet in Arcadia. In the boys race, Connor Genteman recorded his fastest time of the season, blowing through the 18-minute mark and finishing in sixth place with a time of 17:37.1. Cody Eckes took 30th in the 72-runner field, running a 21:19.9 and Lucas Nielsen rounded out the trio with his 54th-place finish at the 24:04 mark.

In the girls race, the Greyhounds competed in a 63-runner field. Taking sixth place overall was Summer Smith, who ran the hilly course in 22:58.8. Addison Holm and Bailey Eckes both ran a 24:06.0 at Arcadia, with Holm being given 11th and Eckes taking 12th to break the tie. Leah Scherer ran a 25:29.3 to take 20th and Katlund Etlicher placed 22nd with her time of 25:35.2. Also running for the team were Alexis Meyer (24th, 25:46.8), Aubre Robida (26th, 25:57.5) and Halle Aumann (45th, 27:09.7).

The Loyal-Greenwood girls earned 71 points at the Oct. 8 invitational to take third place, finishing ahead of Independence-Gilmanton (89), Chippewa Valley Bolts (120) and Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (145). Melrose-Mindoro was second (59) and Aquinas took first (37). In the boys competition, teams placing were Arcadia (43), Aquinas (51), Blair-Taylor (79), Chippewa Valley Bolts (99), Columbus Catholic (130), Necedah (158), Hope Farm School (179) and Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau (181).