Bluejay Runners Battle the Heat in the Boone Central Invite
By Kendall Shada
The Bluejay runners started off their season in Albion at the Boone Central Invite, where the boys team finished seventh, and the girls did not place due to a lack of team members on Friday, September 7.
To start off with the girls, Bailee Thelen led the team with an 81st place finish, ending with a time of 33:11.5, and Quinn Streff finished right behind her with a time of 35:13.6, placing 83rd.
Moving on to the boys side of things, Kendall Shada was the first Bluejay to cross the finish line, coming in fourth place, ending with a time of 18:10.3. Blaine Anson was the next Bluejay runner to finish, ending with a time of 20:10.8 and placing 28th. Maxwell Weber placed 47th with a finishing time of 21:30.8. The final scorer was Emmett Hervert with a finishing time of 22:40.7, and placing 74th. Lastly, crossing the finish line for the Bluejays was Kohen Gordon, coming in 107th place and ending with a time of 25:10.8.
“What kept me going when the race got difficult was the thought of what would happen if I stopped. I would not be only letting the team down and myself down,” Anson states. “I feel the future of this team isn't the strongest at the moment, but with enough willpower this team can go places.”
On the team scores for the girls, bringing home the runner-up trophy was Nebraska Christian. The team champion of the meet was the Blue Devils from Wayne. For boys, the team runner-up was the Battle Creek Braves, and the boys' champion was also the Wayne Blue Devils.
“Everyone on the team needs to make sure they are the best version of themselves every practice, which means doing everything to the best of their ability each and every time,” head coach Gary Shada states. “Now that everyone has had an opportunity to compete in their first cross country race, I expect them to know what the expectations are prior to and after the race.”
The runners head into the week, competing on Friday, September 11, at the Fremont Twilight meet.
