Linn harriers ran well at Saturday’s Blue & Gold Invitational, taking advantage of a cloudy day.

“The Fatima hill can be daunting, but we had been gearing up for it, and it was good to see them running so well on it,” said Coach Robyn Baker.

Genna Haslag led the team with a 26th-place time of 25:18. “Genna has been not running her best, but in this race she seemed to be coming back around,” said Baker. “She got out well, and worked her way up in a crowded pack of girls. I am excited to see what she can accomplish next week at districts. Charli Lenger (28, 25:29) also had an improved race and worked hard to stick with Genna.”

This week of practice will focus on working to keep them together as they run at districts.

Elyse Brandt (30, 25:54) continues to have an extra push in each race. “She didn’t start out in the front of our pack, but worked her way up quickly,” said Baker. “We talked after the race about moving our pack up faster and more together. She will be vital to being successful with that.” Before the race, Baker told Adalyn Brandt (32, 26:06) her goal was to stay with Kylie Messenger (36, 26:44) and fight with her sister, Elyse Brandt. “Adalyn did a great job of doing those things,” said Baker. “She has so much potential, and it is nice to see her working so hard and running well. Kylie got off to a great start and was in a good spot in the running pack. However, she struggled some in the second half of the race and couldn’t overcome it. We will work to build her back up for districts. Emerson Bowser (53, 30:17) had a nice last regular season race as a senior. She stayed strong and ran one of her season best times on a really tough course.”

Baker said she told the boys to go out and run like I knew they could run and not to slow down for anything in the last regular season race.

Reid Baker took that to heart and ran a really good race, finishing 58th in 21:09. “He started in a huge pack and not at the front of the Linn runners, but worked his way up to be the first on our team,” said Coach Baker. “It was a good end to his senior year regular-season race. Vince Tschappler’s (61, 21:16) last two races had not been his best so it was good to see this race be a good one for him. He started out well and worked hard to be consistent in both loops.”

Jackson Hamburg (62, 21:23) had been battling illness, and Baker knew this would be a rough race for him. “His determination to finish with Reid and Vince was great to see, and he pushed himself to run a successful race,” Baker noted. “Isaiah Franken (75, 22:20) had his best race of the season and on an incredible hard course. He ran strong through the entire race and had a really good finish.”

Owen Jaegers (93, 23:44) ran a good race and had a personal goal to be close to Franken. “He started back a bit, but worked his way to a nice finish,” said Baker. “Emmit Mehmert (99, 24:48) had been struggling a bit after an illness, and in this race, seemed to find his running form again. He had to work a bit to move up in the pack and did that well. Samuel Heckman (103, 25:42) has also been practicing really hard, and he used that hill practice to run a good race. Carson Cozart (109, 34:46) has come a long way since his first race. He ran a personal best at Fatima, and it was fun to see him have success.”

Linn runs in the Class 2, District 3 meet at home on Saturday.

On Monday of last week, the girls claimed first place at the 10th annual Vienna Autumn Classic and the boys finished second.

“It was a beautiful day for a race, especially with all the heat our runners have dealt with of late,” said Baker. “Vienna also provides a great place for our fans to watch and cheer for the runners.”

Messenger led the Lady Cats with a second-place run of 25:54, followed by Lenger (3, 26:17), Haslag (4, 26:40), E. Brandt (5, 26:41), and A. Brandt (7, 27:32).

On the boys’ side, Hamburg was the first to cross for Linn, earning fourth in 21:20, followed by Baker (9, 22:09), Tschappler (10, 22:11), Franken (17, 25:40), Jaegers (18, 25:44), Heckman (19, 27:21), and Mehmert (20, 28:27).