The Wright City cross country team was forced to lean on quality over quantity last Friday during the Warrenton Invitational, as most of its members were impacted by a COVID-19 quarantine.
Despite …
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The Wright City cross country team was forced to lean on quality over quantity last Friday during the Warrenton Invitational, as most of its members were impacted by a COVID-19 quarantine.
Despite being down five runners, including four from the girls team, the Wildcats managed to return home with a pair of medalists.
Junior Zoe Riggs powered across the finish line in 20:39, finishing fourth as the lone representative for the Wright City girls.
“She had some strong competition,” said Coach Billy Garrett. “They went out pretty quick, and she was able to hang on with them. She stayed strong in that last mile.”
On the boys’ side, junior Trent Bruning finished among the medalists in 12th place with a time of 18:15.
“Trent had a good race and improved his time from last year by about 10 seconds,” said Garrett. “He set a pretty good pace and tried to hang with the guys around him. He went out a little faster than he had been, but that’s okay this time of year, as we figure out pacing.”
Also running for the Wildcats was Jackson Mazella, who finished 73rd with a time of 22:10.
Garrett is hopeful to have more runners back from quarantine in time for the Orchard Farm Invitational on Oct. 7.
While Warrenton was able to field more runners, the Warriors fell short of having a medalist.
Leading the effort was freshman Camryn Petersmeyer, who finished 27th with a time of 23:12.
“Camryn has been first on our team the whole season,” said Warrenton Coach Jeremey Collins. “To do that is pretty exciting. She’s going to get a lot better as the year goes on also.”
Shortly behind her was sophomore Madelyn Marschel in 35th, crossing in 23:36.
“She actually got injured over the summer, so she’s having to take the first month kind of easy,” said Collins. “She’s been having some pretty good workouts, and I think she’s ready to have a good breakout meet pretty soon.”
Other representatives for the Warriors in the girls’ race were sophomore Mattison Halter in 44th with a 26:05 and Gabriella Scruggs finishing 51st with a 28:06. Additionally, senior Emma Lewis placed 52nd with a 29:17.
The Warrenton boys were paced by freshman Wyatt Claiborne, who narrowly missed a medal in 24th place with a 19:03.
“He’s doing well,” said Collins. “His times aren’t where he probably wants them to be, but as the season goes on and gets closer to districts we’ll start to taper. I can see him in conference and districts with his times really coming down. He’s a tough runner and works hard in practice. It’s going to be exciting to see how he finishes the season.”
Also competing for the Warriors was sophomore Mark Diller in 74th with a time of 22:12.
Junior Thomas Hale finished in 78th at 23:39, while senior August Klaustermeier crossed in 81st place with a 24:51.
Warrenton had this week off from competition and will next run in the Orchard Farm Invitational next week, followed by the GAC race on Oct. 15.
“Every meet that we’ve been to we’ve had wave starts so they’re not really competing against everybody, so I’m sure it’s kind of weird only racing against half the competition,” added Collins.
