St. Louis cross country competed at its second TVC meet Tuesday, Sept. 29, at Hemlock High School. It was a tough matchup for both the boys’ and the girls’ teams as they both fell short to the Ithaca Yellowjackets.

The varsity boys took second place with a score of 30 compared to Ithaca’s 27. The front pack of runners for St. Louis consisted of Aaron Bowerman in fourth place with a 17:39.90, Nate March in fifth with a time of 17:40.46, Keegan Honig in sixth with a 17:40.67, and Ben March in seventh with a time of 17:45.33. Next up was Dylan Marr in eighth place with an 18:13.52 finish, Joe Erickson in ninth with an 18:18.24, and Alex Davis in 15th with a 19:33.26. Though the Sharks fought hard, it wasn’t enough to take the win.

The varsity girls’ team also took second place to Ithaca as their score of 36 fell short of Ithaca’s 29. Libby Munderloh led the Sharks with a second-place finish and a time of 19:58.59. Next was Mikenna Borie in third with a 20:31.17, Jaiden Dickman in fifth with a 20:43.09, Monika Borie in 12th place with a 21:44.53 finish, Mikaila Borie in 14th with a time of 21:54.95, Payton Kuhn in 16th running 22:27.26, and Laney Pestrue in 20th with a 23:15.06 finish.

The J.V. boys performed exceptionally well in their race, taking eight of the top nine spots. Dominic Gilman took first place with a new personal record (PR) time of 19:35.98. Following for the Sharks was Will Erickson in second with a 19:59.28, Robert Long-Terwilliger in third place with a time of 20:07.19, Tristin Baker in fifth with a 20:31.32 finish, Walker Aldrich in sixth with a 21:02.18, Alex Baxter in seventh with a time of 21:04.91, Matt Haag in eighth place with a 21:43.43, Demetrius Alspaugh in ninth with a 21:47.91, and Hunter Salladay in 20th place with a 26:18.91 finish.

The J.V. girls also ran very well. For the Sharks, Sela Delgado finished in first place with a time of 22:35.97. Next was Natalie Lemert in fourth with a 25:25.23 finish, Lillie Shattuck right behind in fifth with a 25:26.29, and Gracie Shattuck in sixth with a 25:55.58 finish.

Four St. Louis runners ran new PRs this meet despite the winding course. Lillie Shattuck ran a 51-second PR, Dominic Gilman boated a 44-second PR, Hunter Salladay improved his time by 37 seconds, and Monika Borie ran a 25-second personal best. Additionally, 10 more St. Louis runners ran season bests this TVC meet.

The Sharks will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 3, at Shepherd High School for the annual Shepherd BLUEJAY Invite.