After trekking to Houston for their first meet the first Friday of school, the cross country stayed a little closer to home for their next four meets.

The headed slightly north to Liberty Hill, Sept. 12 for their strongest finish this season so far. The varsity boys finished first overall, led by sophomore James Tisdale who finished in third. Three other runners finished in the top 10, with seniors Mitchell Ballis and Nico Escobar and junior Brandon King finishing sixth, eighth and 10th.

“It was really nice just being out front and winning first for the team,” Tisdale said. “The team as a whole is doing really great so far and we’re always working hard to win at our meets.”

The girls were third overall with two girls finishing in the top 10. Freshman Emily Forster was fourth, while junior Ashton Hilsenteger was ninth.

At Cedar Park the following week, the boys finished in ninth overall with Tisdale once more leading the team, finishing in 21. The girls finished 10 overall with Forster finishing 26th.

“There were a lot of other people at that meet and it was a harder track,” Tisdale said. “The competition was really strong, but the team wasn’t too disappointed.”

The team followed up Cedar Park by heading to St. Edward’s, Sept. 26. The girls came in fourth overall with Forster leading the girls and finishing seventh. The boys finished in sixth overall with Tisdale being the top finisher for the Raiders, finishing in fifth while junior Brandon King was ninth.

“It feels good being a freshman and finishing as high as I do,” Forster said. “It’s good to run against the older girls and it pushes me to do better. I like beating the older kids as a plus.”

The team’s most recent meet was the McNeil invitational at Old Settler’s Park, Oct. 2. The girls finished 14th overall, with senior Madie Boreman leading the team, taking seventh.

The team has the Westlake meet Friday, Oct. 9 before heading to district next Thursday, Oct. 15.

“We’re just coming into the year, but the few meets we’ve gone to are really helping to prepare us for districts when it comes around the corner,” Forster said. “The first meets are really helpful at getting us prepared for what’s to come in the year.

CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
 
Liberty Hill, Sept. 12
Varsity Girls – 3^rd Overall
4^th – Emily Forster 20:19.37
9^th – Ashton Hilsenteger 21:01.97
12^th – Sarah Warrenburg 21:14.21
21^st – Makenna Ludwig 22:14.41
29^th – Cameron Wiese 24:05.58
Varsity Boys – 1^st Overall
3^rd – James Tisdale 16:50.67
6^th – Mitchell Ballis 17:10.05
8^th – Nico Escobar 17:25.23
10^th – Brandon King 17:29.83
18^th – Ethan Case 18:19.71

Cedar Park, Sept. 19
Varsity Boys – 9^th Overall
21^st – James Tisdale 17:12.40
49^th – Mitchell Ballis 17:38.90
59^th – Brandon King 18:00.00
66^th – Ben Escobar 18:11.30
92^nd – Chase Isham 18:33.80
116^th – Ethan Case 18:48.20
Varsity Girls – 10^th Overall
26^th – Emily Forster 20:39.20
28^th – Sarah Warrenburg 20:42.20
77^th – Ashton Hilsenteger 22:12.30
87^th – Meaghan Ombres 22:21.60
111^th – Makenna Ludwig 22:44.40
149^th – Dharma Boreman 23:42.50
180^th – Destiny Luna 24:32.20

JV Boys
21^st – Ian Hoffman 19:24.10
35^th – Marcus Spurgeon 20:05.30
39^th – Andrew Padilla 20:13.70
219^th – Seth Frances 23:54.90
243^rd – Ian Strey 24:43.60

St. Edwards, Sept. 26
Varsity Girls – 4^th Overall
7^th – Emily Forster 20:52.38
14^th – Sarah Warrenburg 21:35.79
20^th – Makenna Ludwig 22:20.76
21^st – Ashton Hilsentager 22:20.77
37^th – Abby Lentz 23:19.19
38^th – Alexis Alvarez 23:19.21
39^th – Dharma Boreman 23:22.15
Varsity Boys – 6^th Overall
5^th – James Tisdale 17:48.00
9^th – Brandon King 17:58.00
19^th – Chase Isham 18:46.00
72^nd – Ethan Chase 20:15.00
74^th – Ben Escobar 20:16.00
94^th – Nico Escobar 20:59.00
134^th – Mitchell Ballis 24:16.00

JV Boys
81^st – Andrew Padilla 22:30.20

McNeil Invitational, Oct. 3
Girls Gold – 14^th Overall
7^th– Madie Boreman 17:36.49
74^th– Emily Forester 18:57.89
134^th– Sarah Washburn 19:44.74
135^th– Ashton Hilsentager 19:45.16
199^th– Megan Ombres 20:21.44
291^st– Makenna Ludwig 21:16.16
321^st– Dharma Boreman 21:55.84
342^nd– Molly Sanford 23:36.66
346^th– Destiny Luna 24:48.43
 
Boys Gold – 39^th Overall
138^th– James Tisdale 16:43.20
190^th– Brandon King 17:01.20
204^th– Mitchell Ballis 17:06.60
309^th– Chase Isham 17:45.10
385^th– Marcus Spurgeon 18:56.40
388^th– Andrew Padilla 19:05.30
389^th– Cypher Miller 19:06.00
395^th– Ian Strey 22:38.72