Fatima’s girls placed fourth among 38 schools Saturday at the Father Tolton Invitational at Gans Creek, while the Comets finished 14th in a 43-team boys’ field.

The Lady Comets competed without several runners because of injuries and schedule conflicts.

“We had a strong showing with our three seniors, Brie Massman, Melissa Verslues, and Karly Bock, all posting faster times than this race a year ago,” Coach Marc Bridges said.

B. Massman led the way with a seventh-place run in 20:40, while freshmen Lexi Massman and Chloe Voss continued to contribute as dual-sport athletes.

“Lexi Massman and Chloe Voss continue to make a big impact on the team, finishing in our top five to keep our scores low,” Bridges said. “Zoey Wilbers and Claire Troesser are running well, and with their second 5K under their belt, they are set up for some big improvements in the next couple of weeks.”

L. Massman crossed the line in 19th place (21:55), followed by Verslues (27, 22:28), Voss (51, 23:15), Bock (75, 24:24), Wilbers (103, 25:56), Troesser (123, 27:42).

On the boys’ side, Michael Gabelsberger was the only returner from last year’s team to compete Saturday, earning ninth place in 17:02.

The Comets are still working toward full strength, with four of the team’s top five returners dealing with injuries. “Our boys are far from our full potential at this point,” Bridges said.

Freshmen Evan Kampeter (42, 18:45) and Austin Woehr (79, 19:34) helped fill the gaps.“They are improving at an incredible rate,” Bridges said.

Freshmen Conner Peters (135, 21:07) and Wyatt Kolb (130, 21:02) also showed improvement from the previous week. “Conner and Wyatt ran much better this week than last and are showing great improvement each time out,” Bridges said.

The junior high runners showed improvement at the Father Tolton Invitational.

“We are still getting into racing shape, but they are off to a good start and looked good Saturday,” Bridges said. “The heat got to our kids a little bit, holding them back from their full potential, but they ran well.”

Harper Moeller ran about 1:20 faster than she did at the same race last year, posting a time of 14:41 for 29th place. “Her summer running has really paid off,” Bridges said.

Violet Backes finished 58th in 16:32, and in the boys’ race, Bane Schaben finished 31st in 12:23), and Brenden Helton was 41st (12:35).

Fatima opened its junior high season Wednesday at Vienna, where Moeller, Backes, and Helton all earned medals despite extreme afternoon temperatures.

“In our first junior high meet of the season, the kids did very well, all earning medals and dealing with the extreme afternoon temperatures very well,” Bridges said. “Our junior high kids are off to a great start and have worked really hard to get to this point.”

Individual results: Moeller (5, 12:12), Backes (16, 13:02), and Helton (15, 11:20).