The L.V. Rogers cross country team headed south to experience racing a totally different level this past weekend.
The team took part in the Highlander Invitational meet in Spokane, an event that attracted almost 40 schools and more than 1,000 athletes.
We had a great experience down in Spokane,” said team coach Graeme Marshall. “It was an eye-opener for many of our runners to experience full blown Americana athletics. The teams there are very large and the sense of school spirit is inspiring.”
The Washington state runners are very competitive on a US national level and train all year round. In an extremely tough field, Nelson received some solid results.
Top finishers included the following LVR athletes. In the Frosh Boys category, Grade Nine Samuel Mathews finished 27 out of 147. In Frosh Girls, Grade Nine Maya Ida came in 23ed out of 82 participants. In Sophomore Boys, Grade Ten Micah May managed a 23ed place finish out of 130. In an extremely deep field, Grade Ten Naomi Perkins finished 84th out of 203 runners in the Sophomore Girls division. Top finishers for LVR in the Junior Boys and Girls divisions included Walker Dempster 58/156 and Maddy Murphy 68/114. In the Senior Boys category, Lucas Burrows came across the line 40th out of 113.
Marshall said the course was flat and relatively short (2.5 miles), so the pace was fast.
“We would like to invite some of these teams up to Nelson to experience some of our races that are much more technical and steep,” he said. “Our definition of what a cross-country course looks like differs from the American definition.”
It was the team’s first race of the season. They will be back in action today in Kaslo.