The Pawnee City Cross Country Team kicks off their season with a strong performance at the opening meet in Weeping Water on Thursday, Aug 27. The junior high and high school runners showed speed and mental toughness, and they set a strong tone for the rest of the season.
Senior Colin Fender ran in the Boys Varsity 5000-meter race with a time of 19:59. He placed 12th and received a medal. Varsity girls runner Brook Tozer ran 31:21 and placed 18th; Kailyn Jensen ran 32:33 and placed 20th; and Tiffany Sampont ran 34:26 and placed 24th.
The junior high runners ran strong in the 1.5-mile run, too. Lisa Holthus, a seventh grader, received a medal and placed 6th with a time of 11:58. Alana Gyhra placed 11th with a time of 13:37, and Keira Hatfield ran 17:14. Seventh grader Tim Hoffman placed 12th with a time of 10:05, Alex Hall was 13th at 10:09, Case Gyhra was 26th at 12:29, and Charlie Arnold completed with a time of 13:47.
When asked about their goals for the season, Colin said to make it to state cross country and bring his time down by 2 minutes, and Kailyn said to run faster than 27 minutes. Colin went on to say, “I did cross country to condition for track, but also because I wanted to try something new.”
Great Job! The next meet is Thursday, Sept. 10, in Fairbury.
