The Warrenton cross country teams have seen early progression as they competed in their third meet of the season in Forest Park on Sept. 14. 

The Warriors had three runners, Alexis Ruff, Ava Schneider and Abby Kackley, set personal records. Ruff, a consistent top runner for Warrenton placed ninth out of nearly 300 runners for a time of 22 minutes, 31 seconds. 

Ruff originally was in 18th place after the first mile and then moved up to 16th in the second mile. Steadily, she passed seven more people before the finish line. 

Schneider set her personal best in the freshman race and placed 24th in 25:39. This was only Schneider’s second high school meet and she cut down a little over two minutes on her time. During the race, Schneider was not feeling good, but Head Coach Jeremy Collins added that you are not supposed to feel good and it will take time to get used to the feeling.

“This is what cross country is all about. She challenged herself and went out there and raced,” Collins said. “She could’ve slowed down and taken it easy, but she moved up three spots on the last mile.” 

Abby Kackley and Sophie Bennett also ran with Ruff and placed 73rd and 142nd, respectively. Kackley improved her time by 1:33 for a PR of 25:12. Collins believes she will see her times drop more throughout the season. 

Bennett finished in 28:11 and passed 13 people after her first mile. 

On the boys side, Jacob Beckemeyer led the team placing 60th in 19:27. He ended up passing 31 people after completing his first mile. In addition, Dylan Coleman finished 73rd in 19:51. This is Coleman’s third high school race. 

“He has been pretty consistent. I think in the next two races, he may drop his time quite a bit,” Collins said. “He is a tough worker and just a great kid to have on the team.”

Noah Cline placed 107th in 20:43, a new season best. Collins expects Cline will soon join the Warrior’s top three runners. 

Jonathan Sweitzer placed 127th in 21:12, Korben Johnson placed 146th in 21:36 and Trenton Hummel placed 201st in 23:00. 

“These guys are fun to coach. They don’t give up when things get tough,” Collins said. “As the season progresses, their times are going to come down, and that will be fun to see.” 

Nova Weekly also ran in the girls freshmen race, running her first high school cross country meet. Weekly placed 47th in 31:20. Collins said she ran well and learned quite a bit from her first race. 

“Overall, we really ran very well and we saw some kids getting season best times and some personal best times,” Collins said. “We talk a lot about being tough and having a positive attitude and this group does a great job.”