Running like they never have before

Running their best overall meet of the season, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn cross country teams brought home two individual medals from Sioux Central's Chris Smith Invitational on Sept. 17 at the Little Sioux Golf Course near Sioux Rapids.

Junior Madison Otto ran her best time ever, finishing 14th in the girls' varsity race. Three other Hawks also had lifetime bests. Freshman Lexi Croatt shaved a couple of minutes off her best time, finishing 67th. Sophomore Ashleigh Vermeer also improved her time, finishing in 73rd, and sophomore Jaela Anliker had a major improvement in her time, finishing 80th. Sophomore Juliana Pasillas ran her best time of the year and finished 87th.

The girls' varsity team finished seventh of 11 teams. Hawk coach Nicole Dorhout was pleased with the effort.

"This is the kind of improvement that I love to see," she said. "We've been working hard with this young team. At first, the goal for our newcomers was just to get used to the 5,000-meter distance and finish it. Now we're looking to improve times. We were right in the middle of the team competition, and I'm happy with that for now. For Madison, her goal is to qualify for state, so she's also pushing herself toward that."

Dorhout could not really single out any one performance on the girls' side.

"They all ran well, worked together, and took a huge chunk off their best times," she said. "We can't really ask for more than that."

The boys' team ran in the junior varsity race, finishing third of five teams. Sophomore Bryce Dodge earned a medal, finishing 14th and running his best time ever. Following him were freshman Gavin Faulkner, who finished 35th and had a huge lifetime-best time, junior Mitchell Meyers, who was 47th and ran a lifetime best, and freshman George Vargas, who ran his best time ever and finished in 48th. Senior Connor Pasillas improved his time for the year, finishing 59th.

Dorhout was happy to see the improved times and improved racing from the boys' team.

"This was their best race of the season, by far," she said. "They all really competed, and that showed in their times and places. I was very proud of their effort. I hope to see more improvement in the second half of the season."

H-M-S runners will compete at the Alta-Aurelia Invitational on Sept. 28. The starting time has been changed to 4 p.m.

CHRIS SMITH INVITATIONAL

Girls' Varsity: Madison Otto, 14th (medal), 21:13; Lexi Croatt, 67th, 24:31; Ashleigh Vermeer, 73rd, 25:09; Jaela Anliker, 80th, 26:37; Juliana Pasillas, 87th, 29:45.

Team Scores: Woodbury Central 93, Okoboji 142, Sioux Central 194, South O'Brien 210, Manson Northwest Webster 241, Alta-Aurelia 261, H-M-S 269, South Central Calhoun 283, Emmetsburg 284, Spirit Lake 300, East Sac County 351.

Boys' JV: Bryce Dodge, 14th (medal), 20:40; Gavin Faulkner, 35th, 23:45; Mitchell Meyers, 47th, 25:08; George Vargas, 48th, 25:08; Connor Pasillas, 59th, 30:05.

Team Scores: Okoboji 41, Spirit Lake 79, H-M-S 124, South Central Calhoun 133, Emmetsburg 151.