(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) K-P's Michael Byers paces himself as he races to a 57th place finish in 25:01 Tuesday in Kingsley. [Click to enlarge]

As he's done all season, Le Mars Gehlen's Jordan Freking continued to cut down on his times as he helped led the Jays to a fifth place finish at the Kingsley-Pierson Invite.

"Those who ran had a great night," said Jays' coach Teresa Taylor. "We haven't raced at K-P in the past few years so it was fun exploring a new course. The course was mostly flat with some nice shade, a couple of bridges to cross and a scenic loop along a brook."

The senior finished fifth overall with a time of 17:41 as he finished behind Garret Ehlers of Battle Creek - Ida Grove and Justin Hazard of Maple Valley - Anton - Oto.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Hinton's Kelci Teut placed 11th in the JV race, crossing the finish line in 24:48 at the K-P Invite Tuesday in Kinglsey. [Click to enlarge]

Coming in 11th place to join his teammate was Josh Hodgson who finished with a time of 18:53. Colby Felts of Remsen-Union had his team's best finish as he ran the course in 19:29 to place 17th overall.

Gehlen's Matt Mayer narrowly edged out Nick Weiler of Remsen St. Mary's for 22nd place overall as he finished the race in 19:49. Weiler finished just a second back in 19:50.

"Jordan is consistently running under 18 minutes now and is gearing up for a strong performance at conference," said Taylor. "Josh (Hodgson) broke 19 minutes which continues his run of dropping about 30 seconds at each race in the past four meets. We also had Matt Mayer, performing well as a freshman and first year cross country runner, break 20 minutes."

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) RSM's Paige Ruba finished 44th at the K-P Invite Tuesday. Ruba clocked in a time of 24:23. [Click to enlarge]

Robert Ciaffa, running for the Jays, had a 21:11 time, good enough for 38th place. Hinton's Daniel Grisby was 39th with a 21:20 time and St. Mary's Justin Fejfar had a 21:36 which gave him 40th place overall.

"Daniel (Grisby) is kind of stuck in the 21 times and its kind of a mental block that runners go through," said Hinton's Mark Wilson. "You've got to fight through that block and get into the 20's."

Hawk teammates Cameron Schroeder and Kevin secured 48th and 49th by running the race in times of 22:35 and 22:38, respectively. Kingsley-Pierson's Eric Lund was right behind the duo with a 22:39 finish. Lund finished 50th overall.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Gehlen's Linden Shoup paced his way to a 60th place finish in 35:42 Tuesday at the K-P Invite. [Click to enlarge]

The Panther duo of Zach Rollfeson and Joe Mason placed just behind Lund with times of 23:17 and 23:29, respectively, as they were 51st and 52nd overall.

Simon Pick of St. Mary's was 55th after running the race in 24:01, edging out Andy Hansen of R-U by three seconds. Hansen placed 56th overall. Michael Byers had a 25:01 finish, good enough for 57th.

"On the boys' side we had some kids that ran very well today," said St. Mary's Craig Hoffman. "It's the first time we've had all five kids for a while and it was fun for them to get out and compete as a team knowing that their time would count in the team standings. They're looking to build on this and it's building their enthusiasm for Thursday."

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) R-U's Andy Hansen crossed the finish line in 24:04 Tuesday to place 56th at the K-P Invite. [Click to enlarge]

Linden Shoup was 60th overall for the Jays with his final time of 35:42.

MV-AO was first in the team standings with 39 points as they edged out BC-IG. Gehlen was fifth with 136 points while the Hawks had 215 points and were seventh overall. Hinton, K-P and R-U did not field a team in the standings.

In the girl's race, Gehlen's Rachel Koopman narrowly missed out on the top-10 as she was 11th with a 19:14 finish. The Lady Jays' freshman Kaitlin Roberts was just two spots behind with a 19:29 official time.

Hinton teammates Audrey Jenkins and Haley Hall had times of 19:36 and 19:42, respectively, as they were 15th and 16th overall.

In 19th place, the Blackhawks' Brandi Schindel had a 20:13 time. Schindel's teammate Judith Mauer was 24th with a 20:45. Mary Henrich of Gehlen was 25 overall with a 20:54 time.

Remsen St. Mary's Stacie Ahlers had a 21:02 time, good enough for 27th place. In 30th with a 21:15 official time was Gehlen's Sana Naqvi who edged out Jill Mogensen of K-P. Mogensen was 31st after running the race in 21:24.

Hinton's Allison Howe was 33rd after a 21:27 finish and her teammate Jordan Towns came in at 21:42 which gave her 35th overall.

"We've been off for about a week and I think we had some time to get some good practice in," said Wilson. "I think we kind of responded to that. All in all, the girls were ready to run and started showing what they could do instead of holding back."

Ellin Lee of Gehlen was 37th with a 21:48 time while Lindsay Berekenpas was 40th after coming in at 23:10.

The Hawks' Paige Ruba was 44th with a 24:23 finish.

"For whatever reason, the girls did not quite finish the way we were hoping," said RSM's Hoffman. "Maybe they weren't quite as focused but we talked and I think they're ready for Thursday. It was just an off night for them. Their placing wasn't bad but their times aren't what we'd hoped they'd be."

MV-AO's girls squad won the meet with 65 points, besting BC-IG who had 104 points. Hinton tied with Spalding for third after getting 107 points. Gehlen was fifth with 116 points. K-P and St. Mary's did not field a team in the team standings.

Hinton also had three competitors in the junior varsity division and were led by Alli Beeck with a third place finish. Beeck had a 23:07 official time.

Kelci Teut was 11th with a 24:48 finish while Crystal Robinson had a 25:13 time, good enough for 13th place.

K-P, R-U and Gehlen will all compete at Hawarden on Thursday afternoon while St. Mary's and Hinton will head north to compete at George-Little Rock, also on Thursday.