The Anderson Trojans Cross Country team kicked off their season Friday (August 23) at the 2024 Vista Ridge Cross Country Invitation on the school’s campus in Cedar Park. Over 50 athletes competed for the Trojans at the meet.
Pacing the Varsity Boys was junior Colby Huntress, who took overall fourth place in 15:49, a 22 second improvement over his time a year ago on the same course. Junior Andrew Saeger was the second Trojan boy to hit the line, finishing in 18:00, a 51 second improvement on last season. Finishing out scoring for the Varsity, who finished 18th out of 27 teams, were senior Sebastian Cruz and juniors Manny Garduno and Christopher Lee.
For the Varsity Girls, junior Lucy Gipson led the Trojans in 21:27. She was followed by senior Leah Heckmann, sophomore Ariana Cruz and juniors Ashley Marron-Rodriguez and Bojana Rutkouszky. The team finished 15th out of 24 5A and 6A squads competing.
The JV Girls were led to a 6th place team finish with an outstanding 5th place finish from freshman Caroline Talarcek in 21:41. Also scoring for Anderson was freshman Emily Scholtz, followed by junior Natalie Juarez, Millie Rackley and sophomore Lucille Flynn.
Scoring for the Boys Junior Varsity were: Tobin Stemple, Luke Mathis, Eli Peng, Jason Berger and Arun Kumar.
This next week the Tojans travel to the 37th Annual Lockhart Hippensteel Invitational, a 3k event run through Lockhart City Park.
Varsity Girls Scoring Runners
Lucy Gibson 21:27
Leah Heckmann 22:26
Ariana Cruz 23:09
Ashley Marron-Rodriguez 23:16
Bojana Rutkouszky 23:31
Team 15th out of 24
Varsity Boys Scoring
4th Colby Huntress 15:49
Andrew Saeger 18:00
Sebastian Cruz 19:15
Manny Garduno 19:56
Christopher Lee 20:07
Team 18th out of 27
JV Girls Scoring
5th Caroline Talarcek 21:41
Emily Scholtz 23:10
Natalie Juarez 25:30 junior
Millie Rackley 23:31
Lucille Flynn 25:46 soph
Team 6th out of 17
JV Boys Scoring
Tobin Stemple 23:07
Luke Mathis 23:17 9
Eli Peng 23:44
Jason Berger 24:43 9
Arun Kumar 10
Team 18th out of 32
Great coverage