Julianne Melby ‘24 leads pack of runners at Regional meet on SC course (Garrity/LION)

Both boys and girls cross country finished up their respective seasons on Saturday, Nov. 4. The boys team finished fourth in state out of 28 schools, while the girls finished 12th out of 28 schools. 

In the boys race, LT had two runners finish inside the top 20 with Cillian Henning ‘24 finishing 15th individually with a time of 14:38, and Brown commit Nick Strayer ‘24 finishing 18th with a time of 14:40. They were followed by Benjamin Wuggazer ‘25 finishing 67th, Tate Pavelka ‘25 in 70th, John O’Halloran ‘25 in 99th, Charles Ciesla ‘25 in 151st, and Maksym Washchuk ‘24 in 184th.

“I would say the season went very well,” Henning said. “Considering in the postseason we only fell short of #1 ranked DGN and ended up finishing fourth at State which is the best we’ve ever done since I’ve been [at LT]. I set a huge PR in the 3 mile of 14:38 which put me at #8 all time in school history and there was only about five seconds between me and sixth place so I know I can improve upon that in the next coming races.”

Some of the runners like Strayer have been running on varsity for all four years of their high school career. This was the seniors last ever cross country race as a high school athlete and they will have to wait for track season in the spring to race again.

“The thing that I will miss the most is definitely the team,” Strayer said. “Being able to grow with the same group of guys for three or four years has been a really special experience. My teammates are and always will be my brothers for life, and they will be what I miss most about high school cross country.”

On the other hand the girls team had Juilanne Melby ‘24 finish 63rd with a time of 18:10, Anna Bylsma ‘25 finish 67th with a time of 18:11, followed by Madison Findley ‘24 in 105th, Lauren Bohringer ‘24 in 115th, Shannon Cranny ‘24 in 118th, Jenna Lally ‘26 in 171st, and Kristina Findley ‘24 in 185th. 

“I think the season went pretty well,” Melby said. “Near the end of the season most of the course conditions were really tough with lots of mud and wind, but I think our team did a good job handling it, and we all ran really well at the State meet. It was kind of bittersweet because it was our last high school cross country race, but it was a great weekend.”

In the state lineup six out of the seven who ran are seniors. Like the boys team, some of the girls have been running for all four years of high school. Running at LT is something that has been a part of their lives for a while, which after this year they will miss.

“I’ll miss spending time with my teammates at practice everyday,” Bylsma said. “It’s a lot of fun to have conversations with each other on runs everyday. I’ll also miss pushing myself physically and mentally, whether it be in a race or hard practice. It’s very rewarding to see the results of the hard work we put in year round after a strong race.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Ben Wugazzer ‘25 leads boy’s regional race at SC on Oct. 21 (Garrity/LION)