Lexi Massman finished eighth to lead Fatima’s Lady Comets to seventh-place Saturday at the Hancock Invitational at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis.

Fatima scored 196 points in the varsity girls’ competition, while the Comets finished 11th with 297 points in the boys’ race. Coach Marc Bridges said both teams were missing runners because of ACT testing and preparations for the upcoming district meet.

Massman finished in 21:15, while Melissa Verslues followed in 21st place in 22:05. Bridges was pleased with both performances but wants the two runners to establish a faster pace earlier in their races. “Both Lexi and Melissa had strong races,” Bridges said. “We will work on getting them out a little faster as we prepare for the end of the season.”

Chloe Voss, who also plays softball, finished 31st in 22:58 after a scheduling change allowed her to compete. Bridges described Voss as one of the team’s most consistent runners and an important part of its success.

Rose Backes (27:12) and Claire Troesser (28:09) completed Fatima’s scoring five, finishing 83rd and 89th, respectively. Although the difficult course affected finishing times, Bridges considered their performances among the best of the season. “Times may not reflect the effort as it was a tough course, but I think Rose and Claire had the best races of the season so far,” Bridges said.

Journey Markway also drew praise from Bridges, who considered her performance one of her strongest this season, as she finished 103rd in 30:33.

In the boys’ race, Michael Gabelsberger led the Comets with a 23rd-place finish in 18:06. Bridges said the team’s freshmen have played important roles throughout the season as injuries have limited several upperclassmen.

Evan Kampeter (58, 19:07), Austin Woehr (64, 19:27), and Wyatt Kolb (86, 20:09) finished among Fatima’s top five runners, while Trenton Orscheln (85, 20:07) and Tucker Schroeder (103, 20:48) competed despite nagging injuries.

Although pleased with his runners’ effort, Bridges acknowledged that the boys did not perform as well as he had hoped following a week away from competition.

“Sometimes after an off week we come back a little flat, and I think that was the case Saturday,” Bridges said.

He also accepted responsibility for helping the team respond better to similar situations as the postseason approaches. “I will have to do a better job as the coach to prepare us for those situations,” Bridges said. “We have some things to correct in the next couple of weeks as we approach the end of the season, but I’m confident in the boys ability to rise to the challenge.”

In the junior varsity boys’ race, Connor Peters finished sixth in 20:56.