Middle school cross country teams successful at 20-team meet

Last night the middle school cross country teams went to battle at their largest cross country meet of the season. Each race had between 120 & 150 runners in it. There were over 20 teams represented. The 7th and 8th grade girls teams took first. The 8th grade boys team took 2nd and the 7th grade boys team placed 4th.
Out of 6 races western had four first place finishers. In the girls 6th grade race Quinn Natschke placed first with a school record of 9:49 for the 1.5 mile. In the boys 8th grade race Lake Buseth won. In the 7th grade girls race Kazune Nakashima won, and in the 8th grade girls race Madison Natschke won.
Other top racers were Gezaghen Starr, Taelor Eernisse, Hannah Ottolini, Ashley Oliver, Ethan Phillips, Bode Buseth, Tyler Blume, Landon Hiler, Justin Pariseau, Noel Nagy, Grace Buckland, Bailee McGraw, Madi Meyers, Sophie Debacker, Jackie Rosecrants, Lydia Herr, Jared Clark, Trey Palmer, Brandon Miller, and Tyler Robertson.
Many of the other runners also set personal bests. Congratulations on your hard fought victories.

Concord's Wild Life Marathon seeking volunteers

The below message was forwarded from Mr. Theo Hilleary of the Jackson Fitness Council:

Coming up on October 13th and 14th is the Wild Life Marathon. So far, this has been a widely accepted early fall event as we head towards our 4th running. We have over 425 preregistered athletes and I predict passing the 600 mark which will be about 50-100 more than last year.
Over these short period of time, I have learned that these events are only as successful as the volunteers that help make things happen.
At this time, I am seeking volunteers to help with the following tasks. Please email me at director@wildlifemarathon.org if you are interested and what tasks you would be willing to help with.
Cheers! Tim Payne Director Wild Life Marathon

Needs:

• Registration for Saturday, 10/13 from 4 - 7 PM at the Concord Public Library.
• Registration for Sunday morning 10/14 from 6 - 8 AM at the Concord High School.
• Help setting up and tearing down Aid Stations.
• Parking at the Concord Middle School and High School parking lots.
  
• Picking up and delivering pizza to Aid Stations and Fire Department volunteers.
• Bicycle leader for Woman's Half-Marathon Run.
• Bicycle leader for Men's Half-Marathon Run.
• Misc tasks as needed. 

Women's XC team nabs runners up honors at Lakeview Invite

The women's varsity cross country team placed second in a highly competitive field. 
Six Lady Panthers placed in the top thirty and received medals. 
Junior Mackenzie Kellar placed 5th overall. Sophomores Sydney Nagy and Noelle West were 8th and 23rd overall, respectively. Juniors Allison Snyder (28th), Libby Buckland (27th), and freshmen Lexi Shupbach (29th) rounded out the medals for the women's team.
Among the junior varisty runners, Western's girls snagged five of the top 20 places, receiving medal honors. Seniors Kim Cary (7th) and Brianna Meyers (17), juniors Mackenzie Bowden (12) and Aubrey Glover (13), and sophomore Kimmy Berry (14) walked away with medals for the Panthers.

Cross country men take fifth at Lakeview Invitational

The men's varsity cross-country team placed 5th at the Battle Creek Lakeview Invitational Saturday.
 Western was led by junior Jordan Dack, who finished 31st overall with a season's best time of 18:13. 
The men's team continued to show improvements, with many men posting season's best or personal best times. Freshman Jacob Inosencio crushed his previous PR by more than 50 seconds, running an 18:19. Junior Ashten Griswold came in under the 19-minute mark for the first time in his career, running a time of 18:32. Rounding out the scoring for Western were Luke Hubbard and freshman Chase Veydt.

Friday SupaFly Day

With Nike, you kind of have to take the good with the bad. When it comes to marketing and brand association, though, they know what they're doing. If this video doesn't make you want to go for a run...

High school teams compete at Harper Creek

The women's and men's cross-country teams finished 4th and 8th, respectively, in a tough field at the Harper Creek Optimist Invitational this past weekend. 
The girls were led by junior Mackenzie Kellar, who finished 6th overall with a time of 21:13. Sophomore Sydney Nagy placed 10th with a time of 22:00. Both medaled in a highly competitive field. Scoring for the Panthers were juniors Allison Snyder and Libby Buckland, and freshman Lexi Shupbach.
Freshman Jacob Inosencio led the male Panthers with a 10th place finish and a time of 19:01 and earned a medal. Scoring for the Panthers were juniors Jordan Dack and Ashten Griswold, and freshmen Chase Veydt and Zachary Veneziano.

MS XC runs competes at Addision Invitational

The middle school XC team competed Saturday at the Addison Invitational. The 5^th and 6^th graders ran 1.6 miles and the 7^th and 8^th graders ran 2.4 miles. 
Stand outs included Madison Natschke, who took 2^nd overall in her race. Gezahegn Starr placed first overall in the 5/6 boys race. Quinn Natschke placed first overall in the girls 5/6 race and Lake Buseth placed 1^st overall in the 7/8 boys race. 
 The 7/8 boys team took first as a team and were led by Lake Buseth, Jared Clark, and Tyler Robertson. The girls 7/8 team took 2^nd behind Concord. The girls team was led by Madison Natschke, Noel Nagy, Sophie Debacker, Jackie Rosecrants and Grace Buckland.
Interestingly enough a tree in the woods fell down and almost hit a few of our 6^th grade runners (not kidding) and someone (not from our team) decide to play with a hornets nest, so the 7^th and 8^th grade runners ended up running 2.4 miles instead of 2.  The race had to be diverted to avoid the hornets.

-- by Coach Kristin Kiebler

Get up and move...

...because even the slowest runner is faster than the kid sitting at home on the couch.

WRC seeking to improve presence on world wide web

The purpose for this site is to provide one starting line from which to promote the events it organizes and to share news, results, and other information about Western's track and cross country teams. This is Grand Central Station, of sorts, for athletes, parents, and fans of the teams WRC supports, as well as for those seeking information about events such as the Bye-Bye Yeti 5k, which has been run each March since 2009.