Cross country runs their first meet of the season

The Lake Roosevelt cross country team competed in their first race of the season Sept. 13 in Bridgeport.

In the 2.7 mile race, Raiders Kyle Edmo placed 29th out of about 70 runners, Cameron Tillman placed 38th, and Will Friedlander placed 41st.

Only three of LR’s six runners had logged in enough practices at the time of the meet to qualify to run. Four runners will qualify for a meet today in Okanogan, and all six will qualify next week.

“The runners have been working hard to get into race shape and have been making gains week by week,” Head Coach Gary Darnold said. “With their positive attitude and work ethic they are on track to run well by mid-season.”

Unlike most other racing sports, cross country has a lot of variation in the length of the race.

“It is always tough to compare times from course to course as distances vary between courses, as does the terrain,” Darnold said. “Early in the season, the courses are usually 2.5 miles or above, but later in the season the races try to stay as close to a 5k (3.1 miles) as possible as District and State are exactly 5k’s.”

The Raiders will run their third meet next Wednesday, Sept. 28 in Tonasket.