Area runners compete in the Griak cross country meet

Five members of the Clear Lake cross country team and seven members of the Garner-Hayfield-Venturea cross country team participated in the Griak cross country meet, hosted by the University of Minnesota on Saturday, Sept. 29.  Teams ran on the Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn.

“It was a great opportunity to see some of the best cross country teams in the country, both college and high school,” said Clear Lake Coach Nick DiMarco.  “We ran the meet as a hard workout instead of an all-out race because we race on Tuesday (Oct, 2).  “The kids had a great time and were surprised that their times were so good even though they were not in race mode.”

The Lions finished 36th among the 53 teams participating.  A total of 487 runners competed.

Sophomore Justin Wright was the first Lion to cross the finish line.  He ran the race in 17:56 to place 43rd.  Eric Faught was next for the Lions, finishing 133rd in 18:41.  Jacob Peterson, Austin Warnke and Lewis Callaway ran as a pack and were 266th, 267th and 268th respectively.  They were all clocked in 19:39.

Runners from Garner-Hayfield-Ventura also took part in the meet.  The Cards finished 43rd as a team.  Runners included: Jake Hejlik, 191st, 19:03.9; Nathan Larson, 250th, 19:33.2; Dalton Hawe, 363rd, 20:21.8; Kris Hammitt, 364th, 20:26.0; Aiden Richardson, 436th, 21:22.6; Jordan Upmeyer, 23:51.5; Sam Wood, 480th, 24:57.6.