By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Tuesday’s cross-country invitational at Marion Country Club was a tough meet all around, but the Warriors managed to place well.

The race was a new experience for the runners because of the hills, coach Grant Thierolf said.

“Our kids aren’t used to that and most other teams probably aren’t either,” he said. “They’ve hit hills, but they’re 100-meter hills. Some of these hills are 300, 400 meters long.”

Heidi Grimmett again displayed her dominance. She took her third top-two finish in a row, coming in at 22:56.

The race introduced an additional wrinkle because teams had less rest than normal, Thierolf said.

“You’re breaking your rhythm a little bit because this is the first Tuesday meet for everybody,” he said. “Everyone’s used to Thursdays or Saturdays.”

Colton Boudreaux medaled in the boys’ race, placing 14th. He finished in 20:59, his third-consecutive 5K under 21:00.

Bethany Grimmett captured her first top-20 finish Thursday and followed it up with a solid day Tuesday. She finished in 37:33, and ran a strong first mile.

With the heat and number of hills on the course, Thierolf did not assume his team would have their best performances, but he did expect them to do well.

“You’re not generally going to have a fantastic time, he said. “If it’s 20 degrees cooler, times would be a whole lot better.”

Thierolf focused on how his runners placed in the field, and said they all did well relative to their peers.

“I’m pleased with how our kids competed,” he said. “I’m more worried about how our kids ran against the competition.”

For the third race in a row, Braxton Schuh showed his evolution as a young runner. After turning in back-to-back sub-24:00 finishes, he completed Tuesday in 25:06.

Now that the race is over, Thierolf is anticipating a good performance at the next meet.

“I’m looking forward to this next week-and-a-half because we’ll have a solid time of practice,” he said. “We’ll get a couple extra days of rest before Halstead and I think that’ll help us.”