Lakewood Tigers XC run to second place finish

Orange jerseys with tigers on the fronts made their presence known as Lakewood boys and girls finished second in team standings at the Sept. 13 Cardinal Invitational Cross Country Meet at Elizabeth High School.Key momentsThe ground under the 5-kilometer course that looped around Elizabeth High School Stadium shook as runners from 26 schools took part in the competition.The course, which followed a circular path up and down the hills in the area, began and ended in the stadium.”We had a good turnout for our team with about 60 runners this season, and participation in the sport seems to be growing,” Lakewood Coach Kyle Gillett said. “I think the kids come out for cross country because they like hanging out with each other.”Key players/statisticsElizabeth won the girls team title with 80 points and the Tigers finished second with 102 points.Lakewood’s girls team was led to the finish line by Carley Bennett who finished second in the field of 121 runners with a time of 20:01.40. The other Tiger runners who scored team points were Jessica Woodhead, who finished 16th, Anna Granquist, 24th, Colleen Amori, 32nd, and Hannah Mosher, 33rd.D’Evelyn won the boys team title with 85 points and the Tigers were second with 102 points. Chase Dornbusch was the first Lakewood runner to the finish line as he was third in the field of 141 runners with a time of 17:47.90. The other Lakewood runners who scored team points were Alex Granquist, who finished 23rd, Jack Ackerman, 24th, Nicholas Gordon, 25th, and Dean Lugsch, 27th.They said itLugsch, a senior, remembered how friends talked him into joining the cross country team during his freshman year.”Joining the cross country team was one of the best choices I have made in high school because all my closest friends are on the team and we have a great time every year,” he said. “I like to run most of the time and it is my thing. My only other high school sport is track, and during the winter I run with a track club to help me stay in good shape and to work on improving my times.”Other area school finishesThe other four area schools at the invitational were Alameda, D’Evelyn, Golden and Green Mountain.D’Evelyn boys were led by Lucas Jordan who finished 10th in the field of 141 runners. His teammates all finished in the top 35 as the Jaguars won the boys team title with 80 points. D’Evelyn girls finished seventh in team standings and Chloe Stensland was the first Jaguar across the finish line at 13th in the 121-runner field with a time of 21:56.20.Green Mountain’s girls finished third in team standings with 104 points. The first Ram runner across the finish line was Kasey Klocek, who was sixth with a time of 20:22.90. The Ram boys finished fifth in the team standings with 135 points and Green Mountain’s first runner across the finish line was Jace Pivonka, who was fourth with a time of 17:52.30.Golden’s girls finished fifth in team standings with 148 points. Rachael Goodrich and Mary Fox set the pace for the Demons as they finished third and fourth, respectively. Both girls time was listed as 20:11.50. The Demon boys were eighth in team standings with 171 points. Danny Ridley was the first runner for his team to cross the finish line; he was 26th with a time of 19:13.30.Alameda’s boys finished 17th with a score of 447. The lead Pirate runner was Leonardo Andrada who was 53rd with a time of 20:06.30. The only Pirate girl to complete the race was Angel Bernard, who finished 22nd with a time of 22:23.40.