The O’Neill Eagles cross country teams turned in another strong showing, with both the high school and junior high squads competing well and several Eagles earning medals.
The O’Neill High School girls team placed 7th overall, led by sophomore Kiarra Kennedy, who turned in an outstanding performance by placing 3rd overall and earning a medal. Kennedy continues to lead the Eagles with strong individual performances.
Other varsity girls competing for O’Neill included Lynn Miner, who placed 45th, Emma Bowder, 46th, and Emma French, 64th.
The O’Neill boys varsity team finished 4th overall, coming just seven points short of the team championship. Senior Max Berg led the way for the Eagles, capturing 1st place overall and bringing home the individual gold medal.
Freshman Kyler Wettlaufer also earned a medal for the Eagles with a 12th-place finish, while Alonso Hernandez placed 17th. Rounding out the O’Neill varsity lineup were Paul Fonseca, 21st; Jordani Ramirez Perez, 27th; and Tyson Becker, 30th.
Other O’Neill runners included David Garcia, 35th; Angel Sanchez, 43rd; Jase Sanders, 45th; Brock Larzel, 46th; Lane Dougherty, 51st; Alex Otte, 70th; Evan Cole, 83rd; Fernando Cayax, 112th; Barrett Troester, 114th; Gavin Kruse, 116th; Tucker Cook, 120th; Kaleb Asche, 124th; and Liam Kennedy, 125th.
The junior high girls also had a strong team performance, finishing 4th overall. Josie Troester led the Eagles by placing 2nd overall and earning a medal.
The remaining junior high girls were Erandi Pantajo, 13th; Madison Wettlaufer, 21st; Madia Sanchez, 44th; Humaya Hernandez, 47th; Aiyana Brown, 60th; Mya McCormick, 70th; Remi Kurtz, 71st; and Ruby Jackson, 72nd.
The O’Neill junior high boys team placed 6th overall, with Nolan Jessen leading the Eagles with a 6th-place medal-winning performance.
Other junior high boys competing were Leo Calvo, 11th; Era French, 32nd; Octavio Garcia, 48th; Justin Luzania, 51st; Coltyn Romesser, 55th; Alvaro Garcia, 71st; Charlie Kaufman, 81st; Lars Miner, 82nd; and Bennett Phillips, 86th.
The Eagles will be back in action this week at the Norfolk Catholic Invitational on Friday, September 11. The first race is scheduled for 9:00 a.m., with the high school girl’s division opening the competition.