Staff writer
Conditions were not ideal for record times Thursday at the Halstead Invitational cross-country meet, but they did not deter Marion High School Warrior Jordan Hett from taking first place in the varsity boys 5K race.
“It was really windy, and the course was very hilly, which made this meet more challenging than previous weeks,” Marion head coach Rebecca Hofer said.
Hett toured the circuit in 17 minutes, 46 seconds, finishing ahead of 61 runners from 17 area high schools.
Marion placed two more runners in the top 20. Patrick McCarty finished 13th with a time of 19:24, and Jacob Cope came in 18th in 19:36.
Timothy Knolla ran his first race of the season in 21:29, good enough for 44th place. Quinton Hett, (22:02, 50th), Clark Kroupa, (22:14, 53rd), and Jarred Hague, (22:47, 55th), contributed to the Warriors fifth-place finish in the overall team scores for the event.
In the varsity girls 4K race Marion’s lone entrant, Kaelyn Thierolf, had another strong performance, finishing fourth with a time of 16:39.
Garrett Alleven finished second out of 56 competitors in the seventh-grade mile with a time of 6:01.
Malachi Sippel ran 15:59 to place 28th in the eighth-grade boys 2-mile race, while Abby Kuester’s time of 17:49 placed 23rd in the eighth-grade girls event.
The Marion harriers will travel Thursday to Sterling for their last regular season meet before hosting the Heart of America league championship meet Oct. 13 at Marion Country Club.