Starting To Find Their Pace
By: Alex Dumont
The girls cross country team is starting to find their pace! Four girls recently placed in the top 25, earning medals. With perfect weather on September 3, the mens and womens cross country team headed out to Berrien Springs to compete in the Shamrock Invitational for the first time ever. With a stacked field and the women's team suffering from multiple teammates having fainting issues, the women's team put up their most impressive race this year.
Three of the four girls on the women’s team had season and/or personal records at this past meet, showing that our girls team is putting in the work. The women's team was led by Emma Ryker with a time of 21:07.42 and Brie Siems with a season record of 21:18.7. Emma and Brie had an impressive placement finishing 10th and 11th right behind each other. Two other girls received medals as well, Abby Ulbrich with a personal record of 22:11.52 and Kate Van Es with a season record time of 22:29.82.
Abby stated, “I'm not surprised we all got medals, even though it's an individual sport, as a team we push each other to be better and faster during the race.”
The women's team also beat Bridgman, who is predicted to beat the women's team at regionals on October 25th.
The men's team also had an impressive day, tying for 4th place with three boys getting a personal record. Marek Butkiewicz ran a personal record of 15:45.2 and a first place finish, along with Sean Seims getting a personal record of 16:43.7 and a 4th place finish.
Both mens and womens teams will be back at it this Saturday to compete in the Centreville Invite, so come on out and support your Irish runners!