By Brayden Dirks
The Royals Cross Country teams kicked off their season last Tuesday night at the Sibley-Ocheyedan Invitational in Sibley. It was a beautiful night for running and the Royals really showed out. The boys team placed a close fifth place behind Cherokee. Sophomore Kaden Galles led the way with a third place finish and a time of 17:42. Also receiving a medal was senior Brett Staab at 20th with a time of 19:04, and Brayden Dirks was a spot behind him with a time of 19:09. Gunnar Grage was the fourth finisher on the team with a time of 21:06, and Lucas Braun was 16 spots behind him at 66th place with a time of 22:00. Max Pepper got a time of 23:56 and Mason Peters had a 24:34. All together, the team scored 157 points . In XC you want the lowest amount of points possible. Cherokee had four less points and got 4th place, while Sioux Center, Western Christian, and George-Little Rock got first, second, and third, respectively.
The girls side for the Royals XC team didn’t have any varsity runners but had a few junior varsity runners. Sophomore Alyson Ball led the way finishing in 32nd with a time of 28:59 for the 3.125 mile distance. Freshman Audrey Etter came next with a time of 32:13 and finished in 54th. Sophomore Natalie Plagman and junior Arianna Chiechio were injured, so they did not run on Tuesday.
Senior Brett Staab was very excited about the meet results and said, “For being our first meet our team did fantastic, we fought hard through and through and came out with a great 5th place result.” Coach Lisa Spieler had the same reaction: “I was very excited about the results from the Sibley meet. My goal was to come home with 3 medals and have the boys’ varsity team finish in the top 5. Kaden Galles and Brett Staab medaled and Brayden Dirks missed a medal by 1 place. The boys finished 5th to 4 teams that are considerably larger. It was a great start to our season.” Overall it was a fantastic start to the season for the Royals. The next meet will be Tuesday, September 14 in Moville. We encourage you to come support!