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By Kathleen Fisher



The War-Eagles Cross-Country team had a respectable showing in their first meet of the season at Crosswoods Golf Course in Crosslake. Many of the student athletes from Northland and Deer River improved on last year's times in Thursday's wet and rainy conditions.

In a competitive field of varsity girls, Makendra Anderson had an outstanding performance with an eleventh place finish and personal best of 17:12. Also showing a strong finish in the varsity girls' four kilometer race were Ashley Trout in 21st place, Kaila Juntunen, 25th and Ginger Lund in 36th.

Jake Spartz led the War-Eagles in the Varsity Boys' five kilometer race, taking a whopping six minutes off of last year's time on the same course to secure a 25th place finish. Senior Ryan Juntunen also showed a strong performance in his first varsity race of the season.

Both the boys and girls junior varsity teams opened the season with a bang, each placing second in a field of seven teams. For the boys, Peter Daigle, Adam Machen and Liam Martin were the War-Eagles top finishers in the 2,500 meter race, all placing in the top ten. Jordan Perkins, Kristen Miller and Dylan Thompson rounded out the team competing in their first meet of the season.

The War-Eagles Junior High girls fielded eleven talented athletes in Crosslake. Outstanding performances were given by Kacey Trout, Kristina Harder and Ali Juntunen in fifth, sixth and ninth place respectively. Hannah Myers took three minutes off of her previous year's time on the same course to help her team to a second place finish.

The War-Eagle Cross-Country team would like to acknowledge all of the businesses and individuals who have helped the team to continue to succeed, including: the Outing Chamber of Commerce, Longville Foundation, Holter's Grocery, Lynn Schneider, and Michelle Nornberg for going above and beyond to support our team.

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