Bearcat runners take first at Lyons

Last Tuesday, the Ellsworth Junior-Senior High School cross country teams competed at the Lyons Invitational. It was a great day to run, and we competed against three other schools that had enough runners to qualify as teams on the boys varsity side. All four of these teams made a strong showing, and it seemed that each of our runners were competing right around these other team runners the entire race, which allowed us to basically compete head to head with these teams, and in final overall team scoring, the boys’ varsity team finished first, with 43 points, ahead of Sterling, 49 points; TMP, 54 points, and Pratt- Skyline, 64 points. Braden Schulte and Skyline runner Jackson Wallace traded the lead during the first mile and half, before being challenged by Seth Flax from Ness City. Braden continues to lead the team, finishing his final race at Lyons in third place, his highest career placing in a varsity race to date. Colton Bettenbrock finished in a strong fifth place, a good showing in his first 5K at Lyons. Jonathan Spachek, Byron Johnson and Grady Mueller all finished their races strong, holding position or making some crucial passes in the last half mile to solidify the team championship. Kirsten Meier finished in the top half of the field, and continues to close in on her career best time, and in the next 2-3 weeks will likely record that personal best. The Junior High runners continue to show progress, with Madison Newell and Trenton Holmes leading the group, each medaling in their final 2 mile competition at Lyons. Next year it’ll be the high school 5K for them. All around, it was a great meet 7-12, with EJSHS bringing home medals, as well as times that were close to personal bests across the board. Definitely a great way to approach the latter part of our season, with our home meet Tuesday, the 7-12 NCAA League meet at a one-year-only venue of Minneapolis Golf Course next Tuesday, Oct. 13, and High School Regionals at Norton, Oct. 24.