Zane Bennett/Photo by Noah Clooten
The Devils Lake boys took third, and the girls took eighth, in the Blue and White XC Invite this past weekend. It was the Firebirds’ sixth meet of the season as they start to gear up for EDC.
With 145 points, the Devils Lake boys trailed only Bismarck (32) and Shanley (58) among the 17 teams with official scores.
The Firebirds were once again led by Zane Bennett, who placed sixth overall out of 152 runners. His time of 17:08.7 was his second-best of the season and third-best of his career.
Seniors Adam Sobolik and Noah Azure, along with sophomore Aiden Ackerman, came in 27th, 31st and 39th, respectively. Ackerman, with a time of 18:42.2, missed beating his personal record by less than two seconds.
Gerardo Sanchez rounded out Devils Lake’s top five with a 42nd-place finish. Eighth-grader Isaac Kraft finished just one spot behind Sanchez, in 43rd, with a personal record 18:56.2.
The boys had 16 total finishers. The full results can be found on athletic.net.
The Firebird girls, meanwhile, came in eighth out of 13 teams with a score of 240. Bismarck (34) once again took home the gold.
Eighth-grader Riley Schmiess was Devils Lake’s top runner, coming in 13th out of 134 runners. She posted a time of 20:51.91. Schmiess set her personal record on Aug. 27 in the “THUNDER” Cross Country Meet with a 20:03.7 and is yet to match it.
Coming in second for Devils Lake was another eighth-grader, Tenley Triepke, with a 21:35.7. She placed 27th overall.
Juniors Aubrie Lebrun and Livia Nelson came in 60th and 62nd, respectively, for the Firebirds. Eighth-grader Ealynn Yoder placed 78th. The Devils Lake girls had nine total finishers.
The EDC Cross Country Championship is quickly approaching, with the competition set for Oct. 12 at Lincoln Drive Park in Grand Forks.
