Lions Show Improvement at Fort Calhoun (9-20-11)

No medals, but the Louisville High School cross country teams ran well against a tough field at the Fort Calhoun Invitational.

“The kids ran really well today in a very tough field of class C and D competitors,” said Matt Hammer, Louisville’s head coach. “Unfortunately we didn't bring home any medals, but all the kids had great finishes and most improved their times for this year.”

Except for Vincent Smejkal, returning after sitting out the past three meets, all Louisville runners posted their best times of the season, good timing as the Lions approach conference and district competitions.

Freshman Lane Sladky showed the greatest improvement, knocking 86 seconds off his previous best, finishing in 42nd place with a time of 20:45. Another freshman, Andrew Sjogren, improved his best time of the year by 59 seconds. Other varsity runners with times and number of seconds their time was lowered were Jeff Bishop (18:55, 17 seconds) and Chris Van Horn (20:40, 49)

Each of the girls on the LHS varsity ran their lowest times of the year as Sydney Stander dropped 41 seconds off her season mark, finishing 16th in a time of 17:26. Dani Gennaro was timed in placed 26th in a time of 18:22, bettering her season marks by 49 seconds.

“I'm very proud of they competed today,” said Hammer. “This was our best meet so far!” After running two meets a week the past two weeks, the Lions won’t return to competition until next Thursday, traveling to the Lincoln Lutheran Invitational held at Lincoln’s Pioneer Park. Start time is 4:30.

Fort Calhoun Invitational
Boys Team results: Bennington 24, Arlington 40, Fort Calhoun 52, Yutan 65, Platteview 76, Fremont Bergan 97, Lincoln College View 108, Louisville 144, West Point-Beemer 147, Weeping Water148.

Girls Team results: Fort Calhoun 27, West Point-Beemer 43, Bennington 62, Platteview 67, Weeping Water 78, Arlington 79, Yutan 79. No team score: Louisville, Douglas County West