Bang! The varsity boys start their race running through a crowd of cheering spectators. At the fourth meet of the season at the Jim Flim Invite in Winona, the varsity team is anxious for a win. After a seventh place finish at the Faribault Invite and an eleventh place finish at the Irish Invitational at Rosemount, junior Spencer Moore and senior Andrew Gathje push hard to be victorious. Coach Thomas Sorenson told the team that he “felt a win” that day, and they all rallied to do their best.

After running through three miles of an uphill course, Moore finished third overall and first for Mayo, with a time of 16:50.7. Gathje finished ninth with a time of 17:43.7. Sophomore Jacob Anglin finished with a time of 18:07.2. Also running for Mayo Varsity, eighth grader William Roden finished with a time of 18:36.8. Showing great improvement, the Mayo Varsity boys took third overall. This is a refreshing morale boost for the boys who were missing one of their teammates, junior Alex McPhail, who chose to run in the junior varsity race because of a hip problem that had been nagging him during his previous two meets. This small victory should help the team push even harder at their coming meet in Owatonna on October sixth.

The most notable accomplishment in the junior varsity race goes to freshman Bryce Baker for his twelve second improvement on his personal record. Baker finished second for Mayo with a time of 19:35.2. Coming in first for Mayo was Alex McPhail with a time of 19:32.3 in seventeenth place. Third for Mayo was freshman Maxwell Cothern with a time of 21:09.2. In the Junior Varsity race Mayo finished seventh overall, which is better than their previous two meets. Mayo placed fifteenth at the Faribault Invite, and eleventh at the Irish Invite in Rosemount. The junior varsity boys hope that they can keep up their top ten scores.

The next meet is at Owatonna on October sixth. The All City meet is going to be held at Century High School and will be on October eleventh. Come and support your Mayo cross country team! The Big 9 meet is held in Owatonna on October eighteenth. Sectionals will be on October twenty seventh at Owatonna. State will be on November fifth and will be held in Northfield at the St. Olaf campus. If you would like to know more about the Mayo Boys Cross Country program please visit http://www.mayospartans.org/page/show/1930300-boys-cross-country-2015-.