In the 27 years of the Red Rock Conference Meet, the Conference Meet has never been held in Adrian. On the eve of the meet, snow covered Southwest Minnesota. With the additional precipitation, Adrian Country Club was too wet to hold the post-season event. The meet was then moved to the Adrian Campground, where new courses where made, equipment was moved, and snow was scooped.
The first race of the day belonged to the Junior High Girls. Adrian had two runners in this race competing in their last race of the season. Seventh grader Hunter Penning, who has had a fantastic second half of the year, placed 10th overall to receive All Conference Honors. Penning was only 4 seconds from a third place finish, running 7:59. Kaysie Lenz had an impressive race as well. Lenz had her highest finish of the year, placing 18th overall and running 9:13 in the 1700 meter run.
The Junior High Boys followed the girl’s race and ran the same 1700 meter course. Bruce Farinella ended his season on a high note. Farinella went out fast, held the pace, and finished the race in 4th place, clocking a time of 7:17.
The Varsity Girls were next to run the campground 5000 course. Junior Moriah Bullerman added another solid race to her season, placing 3rd overall in the 51 runner field. Bullerman completed the race in 22:19. Second runner for the Dragons was Gracia Elias, who placed 17th overall, pacing the course in 24:30. Freshman Hiltyn Heitkamp was the third runner, placing 19th in 24:34. Sophomore Alysha Wieneke made up a lot of ground throughout the race, finishing in 25:17. The final scorer for the Dragons was senior Halle Heitkamp, who completed her last cross country meet in Adrian, running a time of 26:49. The Lady Dragons placed 4th as a team in the Conference.
In the last race of the day, senior Cole Domeyer was up running his first and last home cross country meet. Domeyer had a consistent race, completed the 5000 meter course in 23:49, which was a career best time for Domeyer. He placed 46 overall in the race.
Finally, the Adrian Cross Country team would like to thank the City of Adrian and the Adrian Campground for allowing the Conference Meet to be held in Adrian this year. This was no small task to move a meet across town in roughly 24 hours, but due to effort of countless volunteers and parents, the meet was successful. Although the meet was well put together, the cross country team looks forward to next year when they can return home to the Adrian Country Club.
