LCC runners race out to a good start

HARTINGTON — The LCC cross country teams got their season officially underway Thursday at the Hartington-Newcastle Invite.

The LCC girls finished the event in third place, just one point out of second.

“It was a great day for the first run of the year,” said LCC Coach Brandi Settje.

The Lady Bears had four Top 20 finishers, led by Kate Tassler, who finished 10th.

“I feel like both teams ran really well today,” Settje said. “Our girls ‘packed up’ and we were able to get four in the Top 20 and our boys ran well.”

Pender literally ran away with the girls’ team title with 14 points, Homer was second with 43 and the Lady Bears were in third with the 44-point total.

The top Lady Bear finisher was Kate Tasler who finished 10th with a time of 24-minutes 18.77-seconds.

Lilly Harris of Homer won the individual title, covering the 5-kilometer course in 21:06.31. Pender’s Kyla Krusemark was second.

LCC’s Faith Galvin finished in 13th, while Leah Gould crossed the finish line in 15th with Addy Hoeppner right behind her in 16th.

Abbie Brummels’ 18th-place finish and Ava Christiansen’s 27th-place finish rounded out the scoring for LCC.

The LCC boys had three Top 20 finishers. Preston Rose led the team with a 16th place finish. Carter Korth crossed the finish line in 18th, while Shane Langford trailed him in 20th.

Other LCC runners competing were: John McDermott, 30th; Sebastian Van Drongelen, 51st; and Luke Jackson, 55th.

The LCC boys finished fifth overall in the team race.

The junior high runners also competed Thursday, finishing fourth. Those competing in the junior high mixed race were: Madison Olson, 8th; Owen Johnson, 10th; Jeremiah Kinkaid, 20th; Payton Benson, 20th; Ruby Tasler, 21st; Stella Graham, 22nd; and Josh Tarno, 27th.