JEFFERSON — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter cross country coach Jerry Meinerts knew the gap between his first and last varsity runner would be much closer this season.
He may not have expected the gap to be much closer at this point in the season though.
Facing two ranked squads and another “team to watch,” the Raiders finished third at the Greene County Invitational and a two-minute gap between the five scoring runners may have been a reason why.
Junior Heather Jessen and freshman Brenna Thomson were just 3 seconds apart in 12th and 13th place, respectively, while freshmen Lauren Ratliff and Shasta Moody also were in the top 25 overall.
On the boys side, CMB was led by freshman Ian Thomson in 22nd place, and the team was 10th with 217 points.
Jessen was the top Raider girl as she crossed in 22 minutes, 26 seconds, while Thomson hit the line in 22:29. Ratliff ended up in 20th with a time of 23:07 and Moody was 23:53 in 25th.
Chasity Moody was the final scorer in 31st as she crossed the line in 24:16.
The other two varsity runners were Anna Jones and Stephanie Twohey and they finished 38th and 48th, respectively.
“Our times were good tonight, in fact, every one of our girls ran a season-best time,” Meinerts said. “This meet had some really good teams and individuals. It was good to get out there and mix it up against some rated Class 1A and 2A teams.”
Class 2A No. 15 West Marshall won the meet with 39 points, while Southeast Valley finished second with 67 points. CMB had 72 points in third and 1A No. 3 Panorama was next with 80.
There were 15 schools in attendance but only seven had team scores. The final three teams with scores included Colo-NESCO (143), Ogden (157) and South Hamilton (166).
“We knew West Marshall would be tough to beat along with Panorama, but Southeast Valley kind of snuck up on us,” Meinerts said. “Our gap between Heather and Chasity was much closer than previous meets. They keep getting better with every meet.”
The Raider boys were seven points out of ninth place. Ian Thomson’s 22nd-place finish was clocked at 18:48, while sophomore Carter Fricke ended up 34th in 19:22. Max Van Maanen was next in 43rd while Josh Bruntz (61st) and Curtis Jones (92nd) were the final two counting scores.
The other two varsity finishers were Brady Ross (94th) and Addison Swaab (97th).
“Every one of our boys ran season-best times,” Meinerts said. “This was Ian’s first race in the 18s. He is really running with a lot of confidence right now. He’s getting out and going those first couple of miles and really working hard.
“Carter is getting out and well, but we need him to hang on just a little bit longer. Max is getting back into shape and should be back up with Ian and Carter soon.”
South Hamilton won the meet with 65 points, while Panorama scored 98 in second and Ogden was third with 110 points.
Class 2A No. 15 Southeast Valley scored 133 points in fourth and Colo-NESCO was fifth with 136.