Cross Country Lives Up To Billing In Two Weekend Meets

The high praise heaped on the Glasgow cross country teams in the preseason seemed warranted this weekend, as both the boys and girls squads impressed at the Billings Invitational.
Running at Riverfront Park, the Scotties took the Magic City by storm, with both boys and girls teams finishing fourth overall at the event. In both cases, the Scotties lost only to three AA schools, easily outdistancing the rest of the A and B schools.
The boys, who have been named as a favorite to win a state title this season, showed how powerful they can be, scoring a team total of 186 in the meet. Colstrip, the next closest Class B team, finished with a 377. Derek Hopkins finished 26th overall, crossing the line in a time of 17:36. Just behind him was Luke Zeiger, who finished in 27th with a time of 17:41. Austin Green finished 35th with a time of 17:58, Jonathan Braaten finished 44th with a time of 18:22 and Braden Hallock finished 54th with a time of 18:46.
The girls faired just as well, finishing fourth with a total score of 156, falling behind only Bozeman, Billings Senior and Billings West at the meet. Among Class B schools, Colstrip finished with a team score of 223 and Red Lodge finished with a 295.
Junior runner Jami Johnson finished just outside of the top 10 at the meet, finishing in a time of 20:00, good for 12th and just nine seconds behind 10th place. Freshman Rachael Zeiger finished in 20th, place, crossing the line in 20:19. Rose Reyling finished in 30th with a time of 20:35, Emma Fewer finished in 43rd with a time of 21:09 and Ellen Walstad finished 51st with a time of 21:39. Opheim's Gwynn Simeniuk finished second overall among junior varsity runners, finishing with a time of 20:29.
On Tuesday, the teams traveled to Glendive, though they didn't fair quite as well as in Billings.
The girls finished first, winning a tiebreaker with Glendive for the top spot. Johnson finished first overall with a time of 19:51, Rachael Zeiger finished fifth in 20:32, Reyling finished seventh in a time of 20:41, Fewer finished eighth in a time of 20:55 and Simeniuk finished in 10th with a time of 21:02.
The boys didn't stay atop their peak, though they finished third in a close battle that was separated by only five points. Hopkins and Luke Zeiger both improved their times, with Hopkins finishing second overall in 17:14 and Zeiger finishing fourth in 17:30. Jonathan Braaten finished 11th in 18:30, Braden Hallock was 13th in 18:51 and Green finished 16th in a time of 19:17.
The cross country teams head back on the road this Saturday for the Malta Invitational.