Austin Packers cross-country teams compete in Wartburg Invitational Saturday

The Austin Packers boys and girls cross-country teams were at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa Saturday for the Steve Johnson/Dan Houston Invitational, and in the boys’ results, the Packer boys took fifth in a 27-team field with 213 points, and in the girls’ competition, the Packers were seventh in a 21-team field with 185 points.

For the Austin boys, senior Thomas Herrick ran the best time of 17:15.54, which was good for 14th overall, freshman teammate Thomas Asmus was close behind in 16th with a time of 17:99.99, senior Joseph Garry was 50th with a final time of 18:09.87, sophomore Noah Sash was 66th with a time of 18:23.02 and senior Joseph Hilkin was 77th with a final time of 18:33.53.

In the girls’ competition for Austin, sophomore Marissa Shute was 4th overall for the Packers with a time of 19:15.16, 8th grader Sydney Lewis took 36th with a time of 20:58.60, senior Cassidy Shute was 46th with a final time of 21:27.50, junior Grace Vortherms was 50th, finishing in 21:38.99 seconds, and junior Lilly Wiese was 67th for Austin with a time of 22:32.14.

Austin returns to action Thursday at Brooktree Golf Course in Owatonna for the 14-team Ev Berg Invitational, with the action scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.