The Mustang cross country runners opened up their season with an impressive showing at the Milaca Early Bird Invitational on Monday, Aug. 25.

After competing in the State Meet the past two seasons, both the boys’ and girls’ teams have high hopes for this coming season. Although the team graduated valuable seniors J.P. Cartier and Loni Amundson this past spring, the solid base of returning runners, many of whom put in quite a few miles this summer, hope to perform even better than last year’s remarkable season.

The varsity boys put together a solid team race, placing third by only three points to Little Falls and St. Michael-Albertville in a field of 16 complete teams.

Seniors Mark Bostrom and Greg Moravec led the way, placing fourth (17:20 PR) and 14th (18:08) respectively on the 5,000 meter course.

Jake Murphy (18:40, 25th) and John Amundson (18:43, 28th) came in shortly after followed by Jon Coler (18:54, 33rd) and Andrew Coop (19:11, 40th) to round out the roster.

Despite not having two of the top seven runners participating in the meet, the varsity girls likewise put together a quality team performance.

Led by Emma Johnson (16:29, 13th), Amber Balvin (17:03, 23rd), and Marshana Coler (17:48, 43rd), the team placed 10th out of 17 complete teams. Newcomer Emily Leeb (19:59, 102nd) and freshman Samantha Weaver (20:13, 103rd) also ran well to complete the team score on the 4,000 meter course.

The junior varsity and junior high runners also had some notable performances.

The JV boys placed 10th overall out of 15 teams, led by freshman Matthew Bostrom (20:29, 13th) and Brent Schroeder (21:29, 31st) on the 5, 000 meter course. The JV girls fielded an incomplete team, represented by Elisa Cosgriff and Nicole Sawatzky (25:57, 80th).

The junior high boys ran well though were just shy of fielding a full team, represented by Sam Johnson (fourth), Cody Cottingham (sixth), Michael Greenberg (65th), and Brendan Johnson (86th). The junior high girls finished eighth overall out of eight teams, led by Bethany Coop (36th) and Tia Hyland (41st).

Head coaches Chris Goebel and Rachel Norby both said they were pleased with the performances, saying the best of both teams was likely still to come.

“I am looking forward to what should be an exciting season,” Norby said. “Many of the runners ran over the summer, which puts them in a good spot at the beginning of the season and will continue to pay off in the coming weeks. The runners have some big goals, and I have no doubt with their work ethic and determination that they will accomplish them.”

The Mustangs run next at Pine City on Thursday, Sept. 4.