By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
The Merrill cross country team got their running underway with a fourth place finish at the Hodag invite. Both boy and girl varsity teams would come away with a fourth place finish, each team ending with a score of 116.
The boys team was led by Dominic Laufenberg who placed fifth, with a run of 18:12.2. Merrill’s Stephen Koch would finish 21 out of the 130 runners, with a time of 20:16.1. Ethan Cordova came in with a time of 20:27.5, being the 27th runner across the finish line.
In the girls race, Merrill’s Dalie Thomas would take seventh place overall, running a time of 22:07.1. Merrill freshman Liz Schmidt would run a time of 23:05.7, taking 13th place. Hunter Zecca was also able to crack top 20 overall, with an 18th place finish on a run of 24:03.3.
Top five finish at Marathon
The Merrill cross country team ran at the Marathon invite on August 30, with the girls team coming away with a fourth place finish, and the boys taking fifth in the eight team invite.
The Lady Jay runners were led by Dalie Thomas with a fourth place finish, running a time of 21:20.7. Thomas was followed closely by teammate Liz Schmidt who took ninth place with a time of 21:47.1. Hunter Zecca ran a time of 22:42.7, which earned her 19th place.
The boys team was led by Dominic Laufenberg who took fourth place, with a run of 17:33.0. Ethan Cordova came in 22nd place, running a time of 19:20.4. Stephen Koch would come in with a 27th place finish, running a time of 19:34.8. Sophomore Tanner Depies came in with a 29th place finish, with a time of 19:56.6.
Merrill will be running again on Saturday morning, at the Bill Smiley Invitational at the Tribute Golf Course in Wausau.
Merrill boys place 14th in 21 team SPASH invite
The Merrill boys cross country team traveled to Stevens Point on Saturday, Sept. 8, for the 21 team SPASH invite. Merrill took 14th place, with four of their six runners finishing top 100.
Merrill’s Dominic Laufenberg was the lead man for Merrill, running a time of 17:24, for a 21st place finish. Stephen Koch took 78th place with a run of 19.24. Ethan Cordova ran a time of 19:25, taking 80th place. Tanner Depies ran a time of 19:51 for a 93rd place finish. Cody Depies took 108th place with a run of 20:31. Kyle Stellingworth rounded out the Merrill runners with a 111th place finish, running a time of 20:38.