St. Louis cross country had an impressive outing yet again during the TVC Overall Championships Tuesday, Oct. 20, at Ithaca High School. The Sharks ran well as the guys took first overall, and the girls took fourth among the competitive field.

The boys’ team performed exceptionally well against the tough competition, and they took first place with a score of 45; Ithaca was second with 50. Earning First-Team All-TVC, and earning medals, were Aaron Bowerman in second place with an incredible time of 16:23.31, Nate March in eighth with a 16:51.63, and Keegan Honig in ninth with a 16:55.48. Earning Second-Team was Ben March in 11th with a 16:59.04, Joe Erickson in 15th with a 17:31.13, and Dylan Marr in 19th with an 18:08.31 finish. Alex Davis rounded out the varsity squad with a 31st place finish and a time of 19:06.87. It was a fantastic performance by the varsity guys all around to take the win.

The girls’ team also ran well and placed fourth with a score of 61, but they were only four points behind third-place Freeland and five points behind the runners-up from Ithaca. Frankenmuth took first place with a score of 42. Earning First-Team for St. Louis was Libby Munderloh in fourth place with a time of 19:05.67 and Mikenna Borie in fifth with a 19:06.17 finish. Earning Second-Team was Jaiden Dickman in 11th place with a 19:49.37 and Mikaila Borie in 18th with a time of 20:43.18. Earning Third-Team was Sela Delgado in 23rd with a 21:20.68 and Monika Borie in 25th place with a time of 21:28.06. Next, Laney Pestrue finished 32nd for the Sharks with a time of 22:01.53. The girls ran well as a whole, and this race was a great experience for the Sharks before moving on to the Pre-Regional race Friday at the same course.

Mikenna Borie stated, “During the race, I felt really good. There was a lot of competition and the weather was really nice. Everything came together, and it led to me and the team having a good day.”

Boys’ junior varsity had good performances as well. Will Erickson won the J.V. race with a time of 19:01.02. Next was Tristin Baker in fourth with a time of 19:33.75, Dominic Gilman in fifth with a 19:35.86 finish, Walker Aldrich in seventh with a 20:11.94, Robert Long-Terwilliger in 10th with a time of 20:41.77, Alex Baxter in 11th with a 20:44.11, Matt Haag in 16th with a time of 20:53.80, Demetrius Alspaugh in 17th with a 20:54.96, and Hunter Salladay in 38th with a 23:55.86. 

On the girls’ side, Payton Kuhn was first for the J.V. Sharks in fifth place with a 22:50.89 finish. Next was Natalie Lemert in 17th with a 24:02.44 finish, Lillie Shattuck in 18th with a time of 24:10.50, and Gracie Shattuck in 25th with a 25:03. 34. It was the last time the J.V. teams were able to race this year, and they had great performances to finish the season strong.

St. Louis took advantage of the flat course to run many personal records (PRs) on the day. Eight runners ran career bests, and six ran season bests! Sharks with the biggest career drops were Salladay with an 86-second PR, Lillie Shattuck with a 76-second drop, and Alspaugh with a 67-second drop.

Mikaila Borie shared, “On Tuesday, a majority of our team ran really well. The weather was great, and the competition was there. It was the last race before championship season, and our team took this race as an opportunity to show the hard work we’ve put in. This race helped to show what we can do and are capable of, and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”

The varsity Sharks will be competing again Friday, Oct. 23, at Ithaca High School again for their Pre-Regional meet.