Wright leads Clear Lake X-C team with second place finish

By Michelle Watson

The Clear Lake cross country team competed in their biggest meet of the year when they traveled to Humboldt on Monday, Sept. 23.

Boys

The varsity boys team did well with a fifth place finish.  The team was led by Justin Wright, who ran a solid 17:56, earning him runner-up honors.

“Justin ran one of the best final 800s that I have ever seen,” said Coach Nick DiMarco.

Christopher Molander was the next Clear Lake runner to cross the finish line.  Molander placed 26th with a time of 19:39. Leo Tolentino and Jacob Pedelty, placed 32nd and 38th respectively.  Tolentino ran the race in 19:49, while Pedelty finished in 20:01.  Jaden Wright, Jack Crane and Roman Gabrielson finished within seven seconds of each other.  Wright placed 42nd with a time of 20:04, while Crane was 44th in 20:05 and Gabrielson was 50th in 20:11.

The JV boys team rolled over the competition with a first place finish.  Three runners finished in the top 10.  Andrew Mixdorf, who is rehabbing an injury, led the way with a second place finish with a time of 20:47.  Elijah Mock was fourth with a time of 20:55 and Vladimir Starrett was fifth in 21:06.

Rounding out the team was Easton Goeman, 18th, 22:16; Jordan Bergman, 22nd, 22:41; Matt Moore, 53rd, 24:05; Mitchel Conway, 100th, 29:45; and Cabot Neuberger, 105th, 30:05.

Girls

The girls cross country team had some individual highlights, but as a team they finished in 10th place.

“Kaylee McCarl and Jayden Heesch are getting closer to their goal of running in the low 23s,” said Coach Nick DiMarco.

McCarl finished in 39th place with a time of 24.11.  Heesch ran the race in 24:20, good for 43rd place.  Emily Roberts was 72nd with a time of 25:57.

Also scoring for Clear Lake was Ella Nielsen, 106th, 29.06, and right behind her was Jessica Theobald and Aimee Groeneweg.  Theobald was 109th with a time of 29:42 and Groeneweg was 110th with a 29:48. Julia Kravchuc rounded out the score with a 32:36, good for 124th place.

“Aimee also did a great job filling in on the varsity squad,” said DiMarco

Jillian Enke. who is also recovering from an injury, led the Clear Lake squad with a 22nd place finish.  She clocked a 28:24  Rounding out the JV roster was Emily Benitz, 41st, 30:22; Gretchen Guetzlaff, 43rd, 32:16, and Chloe Williamson, 47th, 33:11.