The Warrenton cross country team kicked off their season Friday at the Fort Zumwalt North Twilight meet held at the SLYSA Soccer Complex. 

Two Warriors, Steve Schmitt and Noah Joens, competed in the 2.1 mile race. Schmitt placed 50th in 17 minutes, 20 seconds. Joens placed 56th in 18:02. Joens improved his time greatly from last season and ran 4:36 faster. 

“They did a great job and went out and competed and it was awesome to see (Joens) have a great improvement from last year,” coach Jeremy Collins said. 

The Warriors had three girls compete in the junior varsity 5K race. Collins noted only three girls competed due to minor injuries and he is hoping the whole team will be ready in a couple of weeks. 

“Once we get a full team competing, it will give us a good idea of where we stand and it is going to be a fun year,” Collins said. 

Senior Makenna Faubion made her debut and led Warrenton with a 36th finish out of 187 runners in 23:38. Sophie Bennett placed 107th in 26:08 and Taryn Sharp finished 186th in 35:19. Bennett raced 1:47 faster compared to her time from last year. 

“(Faubion) put in some miles over the summer and came into the season in pretty good shape,” Collins said. “She had a great first race and it is going to be fun to see what she can do the rest of the season.” 

Additionally, six Warriors participated in the junior varsity boys 5K race, which featured a total of 277 runners. Junior Matt Craven led the way for Warrenton and placed 33rd in 19:18 and Jonathan Sweitzer finished 47th in 19:48. 

“It was good to see (Sweitzer) go under 20 minutes to start the season. Last year, his first race was 21:15 and he ended the season with a 18:33, so he is on track to have a great year,” Collins said. 

Freshmen Landon Neace placed 74th in 20:17 and Easton Miller finished 188th in 22:48. 

“(Neace) has a lot of potential to have a great season. He works hard and has a great attitude,” Collins said. “Like (Neace), (Miller) is learning how to race the 5K distance, so he is going to improve a lot over the season and really help the team.” 

Running over two minutes faster compared to last season, Ken Le placed 160th in 22:17. Collins hopes Le can run under 20 minutes this season. Lastly, Alex Cutler set a personal record after placing 215th in 23:33. 

The boys team placed 14th out of 23 teams. 

“It is going to be fun to see the improvement for each of the guys throughout the season and also as a team,” Collins said. “As they improve, our team score is going to get better and our goal is to beat certain teams throughout the season.” 

Both the boys and girls team will compete next on Friday at the First Capital Invitational located in St. Charles’ McNair Park.