Warrenton freshman Ben Sommers continued his impressive start to the season with an eighth-place finish at Friday’s Fort Zumwalt North Cross Country Invitational.Sommers finished the race in 18 minutes, 25.6 seconds, and was one of just eight runners to average less than six minutes per mile.Timberland’s Nate Petro won the race in 17:36.88.Sommers’ teammate, junior Nathan Nordwald, finished 10th in 18:49.92, and sophomore Paul Sanders completed the course in 18:58.48.“Ben ran really well, and it was great to see Nathan out there competing on the course after his injury,” Warrenton Head Coach Jeremy Collins said. “Paul Sanders also ran well and really improved on his time from last year.”Other Warrenton runners included junior Michael Hackmann (20:24.20) and freshman Nathan Hackmann (22:21.69).Sophomore Lexi Frederick led the Warrenton girls, finishing 12th in 22:43.71.Freshman Emma Lewis (25:28.82), junior Alejandra Rodriguez (25:37.13) and Karlie Patterson (26:19.15) finished 34th, 35th and 36th, respectively.“Emma being second for us was a really nice surprise,” Collins said.Sophomore Anahi Saldana ran the race in 27:52.15 to finish 39th.Sophomore Hannah Hoelscher (27:55.97) and freshman Gabby Scruggs (28:54.64) finished 40th and 41st, respectively.Mercedes Schroer of O’Fallon Christian won the girls race in 20:47.29.The Warriors’ next race is scheduled for Saturday at Forest Park.“Our girls team still doesn’t have a lot of experience with everyone in their first or second year of running,” Collins said. “If we are willing to work hard and put the effort in, they will improve a lot as the season goes on.”.