Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
Merrill cross country traveled to Spencer for an exhibition meet on Thursday. The Merrill runners turned in a solid finish, placing fifth as a team for boys out of 10 teams and third as a team for girls out of eight teams.
For the Merrill boys, Stephen Koch led the way with a time of 18:54 (21st overall). Other runners for Merrill included Jacob Novitch with a time of 19:15, Dominic Laufenberg finishing in 19:37, Tanner Depies ran a 19:43, Ethan Cordova came in at 20:09, Cody Depies with a 20:52 and Brody Gehrke with a time of 21:03.
On the girls side, Merrill had two top-five runners, Dalie Thomas with a time of 21:15 (2nd Place Overall) and Courtney Krueger coming in at 21:52 (4th Place Overall). Other runners for the girls included Claire Drew who ran a 25:27, Autumn Schenzel with a 25:30, Allie Becker with a 26:22 and Anne Herdt with a time of 26:23.
“This meet was an exhibition meet for both us and Marshfield,” noted head coach Matthew Juedes. “This week was a bit opposite of last meet. Our times were not our best, but we came out and competed against a good field. Dalie and Courtney placed very well. Even though their times weren’t their best, they still came out and finished the meet in second and fourth place. Our Merrill team now has a two-week break, with our next meet being our home meet out at the MARC on Oct. 7. Our few week break will get our runners some much needed rest, with some of our most intense workouts coming as well.”
Come out to the MARC on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 9 a.m. to watch the Merrill cross country team in action.