St. Louis varsity cross country ran at the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championship meet Saturday, Oct. 12, in Grand Ledge, and they definitely made a name for themselves against the loaded field! There were over 30 teams competing from all over the state and from all different divisions, yet the Sharks still stood out and competed with the best. The boys took sixth place while running against 34 other teams, and the girls’ team took ninth out of 31 teams!

The boys did extraordinarily well taking sixth place on the day, and they were only three points away from taking home a trophy for fifth place! Nate March led the Sharks with an incredible personal record (PR) time of 16:55.3, and he finished in 21st place to take home a plaque. March also moved to 16th place on St. Louis’ top 25 times since 1995 list! Next up was Aaron Bowerman (17:09.1) who took 31st place, Thomas Zacharko (17:31.8) in 56th place, Joe Erickson (17:34.4) finishing in 60th place, Austin Aldrich (18:07.1) in 101st place, Dylan Marr (18:08.0) finishing in 103rd place, and Alex Lawhorne (19:06.5) in 165th place.

March stated, “I feel like all the Sharks did very well. However, it was cold, wet, and muddy, but that’s cross country.”

The girls’ team also performed really well, finishing in ninth place. Libby Munderloh earned a plaque for 12th place with a time of 19:29.8. After Munderloh was Mikaila Borie (21:03.7) in 49th place, Mikenna Borie (21:06.5) finishing 50th, Payton Kuhn (21:22.2) in 65th place, Jenna Abell (21:37.8) in 76th, Brooke Erskin (21:38.3) in 77th, and Zoe Dickman (21:40.6) took 79th place.

Mikaila Borie shared, The conditions for the course were not great, but it was way cooler and finally cross country weather! The competition was great, and despite the mud, everyone hung tough and did well!”

Runners that ran PRs were March (16:55.3) with a 24-second drop and Zacharko (17:31.8), who shaved 26 seconds of his personal best. Also, Kuhn ran a season-best time of 21:22.2, dropping three seconds.

The Sharks will be competing again Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Frankenmuth for the TVC Overall Championships.