The Shark Cross Country team competed at its first TVC Jamboree Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Stratford Woods. It was a battle throughout the race, but the Sharks came up a bit short in the final score.

The varsity boys ran well to earn a score of 30, but the strong shiver of Sharks wasn’t enough as Ithaca took the win with a 27. Aaron Bowerman finished fourth with a time of 17:34.98, Nate March was fifth with a 17:39.44, Keegan Honig was sixth with a time of 17:47.44, Ben March finished seventh with a 17:47.70, Dylan Marr was eighth running 18:09.27, Joe Erickson was ninth with an 18:20.34, and Alex Davis finished 15th running 19:36.64.

Varsity girls took second place as well with a score of 41 compared to Ithaca’s 27. Libby Munderloh led the Sharks with a second-place finish and time of 19:30.60. Next, Mikenna Borie finished third with a time of 20:03.54, Jaiden Dickman was seventh with a 21:04.07, Monika Borie was 14th with a 22:32.21, Laney Pestrue finished 15th with a 22:45.03, Mikaila Borie ended in 16th place with a 22:51.38, and Payton Kuhn finished 19th with a finishing time of 23:31.90.

Jenna Abell shared, “The team did well. They seemed strong. It was a nice day out, and most of them had competition.”

The JV boys’ team raced well to finish with a perfect score of 15. Dominic Gilman came in first for St. Louis with a second-place finish and a time of 20:19.86. Next was Will Erickson (20:54.09) in third place, Robert Long-Terwilliger (21:18.09) in fourth, Tristin Baker (21:28.09) finishing fifth, Walker Aldrich  (21:42.46) in sixth place, Alex Baxter (21:53.26) in seventh, Demetrius Alspaugh (22:18.98) in eighth, Matt Haag (22:19.19) ending in ninth, and Hunter Salladay (27:27.31) in 20th place.

Will Erickson stated, “It’s great to see our team working together like Robert, Dominic, and I did.” He also added, “The course was in good condition, and the weather was good.”

The JV girls did well in their race as well. Natalie Lemert finished first for St. Louis and first overall with a time of 24:59.57. Next, Brooke Erskin (25:10.29) was second, Lillie Shattuck (27:27.49) finished sixth, and Gracie Shattuck (29:44.88) finished in 14th place.

Two Sharks ran personal bests (PR) this meet. Natalie Lemert ran a three-second PR, and Dominic Gilman improved his best by two seconds. Other runners improved their season bests; these included Joe Erickson, Will Erickson, Matt Haag, Dylan Marr, and Brooke Erskin.

The Sharks will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Don Baese Invitational hosted by Carson City-Crystal High School.