On Tuesday, October 10th, Adrian hosted a 16 team cross country meet. Adrian Country Club was full of supporters and nearly 460 runners who competed. The Dragons were ready for the challenge and once again, many season best times occurred. The first race was the combined girls and boys Junior High race. Abbey Leopold placed 12th of the 36 runner field and cleared the 2,100 meter course in 9:48. Ashlee Christians was the second Junior High girl to cross the finish line in 10:07 and placed 19th. On the boy’s side, Bruce Farinella had a solid second career race, placing 32nd of 68 and ran a time of 9:11 on the very same course.
The next race was the varsity girls 5,000 meter run. 115 girls competed in the race. Moriah Bullerman was the first Dragon to cross the finish line in 17th place and a season best time of 20:57. Following Bullerman was Gracia Elias and Hiltyn Heitkamp in 23:00 and 23:02, and 53rd and 54th place respectively. Both of those times were season best runs for Elias and Heitkamp. First year runner Alysha Wieneke ran a season best time of 23:57 in 74th place. Senior Courtney Penning stepped up in her final race at Adrian, running a season best 25:27. Halle Heitkamp and Annika Elias ran 25:41 and 26:54 respectively. The Dragons placed 11th as a team of 15 at the meet.
The boy’s race consisted of a large, 115 runner field as well. Brady Henning continued to have a very good senior cross country season, placing 6th overall with a time of 17:21 on the challenge course. Junior Christian Weidert placed 56th in a season best time of 19:13. Sophomore Caleb Hornstein completed the course in 21:42. Senior Mitchell Veld ran the course in 22:55, which was the third consecutive meet of running personal best times for Veld. The Dragon boys did not have a complete team.
Following the Junior Varsity race, the Little Dragon Fun Run took place. This was an event for students 6th grade and under to run a nearly half mile run on a similar course to the other runners. Over 30 young runners participated in Fun Run. Thank you to all of the parents and student who took part and braved the setting sun and cooler conditions! It made for a fun event for the kids and spectators.
