Photo via Devils Lake XC on Facebook
The 2025 cross country season got started with a host of Firebirds performing well at the Orriginals Invitational. It was held Saturday at Parkhurst Recreation Area in Jamestown.
The boys took sixth place out of 36 teams, while the girls placed ninth out of 30.
The boys’ score was 261. They narrowly beat seventh-place Grand Forks Central’s 263. Williston won the meet with a score of 31, while Fargo Davies, West Fargo Sheyenne, Dickinson and West Fargo were the only other teams to beat Devils Lake.
Junior Zane Bennett, the Firebirds’ fastest runner from last fall, picked up where he left off. He placed 11th overall out of 197 runners. His time was 17:27.66.
The Devils Lake boys had four other other runners in the top 100. Aiden Ackerman placed 35th, Isaac Kraft 41st, Rylan Bennett 76th and Caber Bryce Volk 98th.
For the Firebird girls, their score of 309 put them in ninth place. They beat 10th-place Dickinson’s 322, and were a little shy of eighth-place West Fargo’s 288. Williston won the meet with a 49.
Devils Lake had six girls in the top 105 out of 132 runners.
Freshman Riley Schmiess placed 24th overall with a time of 21:14.98. Fellow freshman Tenley Triepke was slightly behind her in 42nd place overall, with a time of 21:51.95. Senior Livia Nelson was next in line in 45th place.
Aubrey Lebrun came in 97th overall, while Elicia Nelson came in 101st and Ealynn Yoder 105th to round out a strong group performance.
The Devils Lake cross country program, between the boys and girls, has 20 new athletes. The next action for the Firebirds is Tuesday at the Northwood Cross Country Invitational. On Saturday, Sept. 6, Devils Lake will host the ninth annual Grahams Island Invitational.
