Linn continued to make progress at South Callaway, with the varsity girls again showing the pack-running ability that has become an early strength for the Wildcats.

Lily Baker led Linn with a personal record time of 26:38 for 17th place, followed by Charli Lenger (20, 27:32), Kylie Messenger (22, 27:49), Adalyn Brandt (23, 27:54), Elyse Brandt (27, 29:15), Allie Hackmann (29, PR 30:20), and Enslee Stevenson (42, 37:32). “Watching this group learn to race together and stack so naturally has been a fun part of the start of the season,” said Linn coach Tasha Haslag. “That pack mentality continues to develop each week and gives the girls another way to push one another throughout a race.”

Jackson Hamburg led the varsity boys (14, 21:17), followed by Vince Tschappler (22, 22:51), Emmit Mehmert (34, 26:31), and Samuel Heckman (35, 26:34).

Heckman showed one of Linn’s biggest improvements from the previous week, cutting more than three minutes from his time.

For the middle school girls, Daphne Baker placed seventh in a personal-record 18:53, improving from 19:11 the previous week. Grace Hall also finished in the top 10, placing 10th in 19:49.

Landon Engelhardt led the middle school boys with a third-place finish and personal-record time of 14:14, improving from 14:22 the previous week. He was followed by Thatcher Gray (11, 16:34), Collin Kempker (20, 23:00), and Jagger Maasen (21, 23:28).

“South Callaway was a smaller meet, but the heat still made the day challenging,” Haslag said. “More importantly for the Wildcats, it provided another opportunity to put their work into action.”

Haslag said Linn’s emphasis throughout the season has remained consistent.

“The message for Linn this season has remained simple: get 1% better each day,” Haslag said. “That improvement may come through a faster time, moving up a place, staying with a teammate a little longer, or simply handling a difficult part of a race better than the week before.”

Haslag said those incremental gains were evident at this meet. “The progress at South Callaway showed that those small improvements are beginning to add up, and the Wildcats will continue looking for that next 1% each time they step on the course,” she said.