Gabe Stark
Reporter

Trenton’s girls cross country team made its first meet with a full lineup count Saturday, Sept. 19, winning the Bishop LeBlond Invitational in St. Joseph while the boys finished third.

The Bulldogs earned six individual medals, with three runners from each squad placing among the top 15.

Coach Chris Park said Saturday marked the first time all five Trenton girls competed together this season, with several balancing cross country and other sports.

“We’re improving as a team” the coach said. “It’s always good to come out on top.”

Lilly Ferguson led the girls with a fourth-place finish, completing the 5-kilometer course in 25 minutes, 40.30 seconds. Rozalea Webb followed in fifth at 25:49.48, while Emma Lowrey earned the team’s third medal by finishing 12th in 27:26.73.

Katie Ferguson finished one place outside the medals, taking 16th in 28:33.60. Lillyann Lorenz completed Trenton’s lineup in 21st with a time of 31:40.58.

Boys

On the boys side, Asher Pryor paced the Bulldogs with a fourth-place finish in 18:10.09. Logan Harris placed eighth in 18:47.34 and Gabriel Harris followed closely in ninth at 18:51.18.

Gage Pierce finished 32nd in 20:38.13, Luke Csicsai placed 37th in 21:07.52 and Quinten Cannon took 48th in 22:48.15. Trenton finished behind North Platte and Penney in the team standings.

Team improvement

Beyond the medals and team finishes, Park said the Bulldogs are showing steady progress as they gain experience. Runners have been trimming 30 seconds or more from their times, with Lorenz making a particularly large improvement.

Lorenz cut approximately 5 minutes from her performance the previous week. Park said returning to familiar ground helped demonstrate how much she had progressed.

“It was the same course she ran the week before,” Park said.

Park attributed her improvement to growing confidence after completing her first cross country meet and “realizing that she is capable of doing it.”

That willingness to improve has carried into practice, where Park said the runners have embraced the work despite being new to the sport.

“Overall, I’m really proud of them,” the coach said. “They’re always willing to practice and work hard. … We do a lot of morning practices from 6:30 to 7:30, and they never complain.”

Trenton then went on to compete Thursday, Sept. 24, at Chillicothe. Park.

When Park spoke to the Telegraph ahead of the meet, the coach said he expects a larger field, estimating 25 to 30 schools will participate.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough, tough course,” he said. “There’s over 100 runners for the boys I know right now. It’s going to be a tough meet.”

As of press time, results of the meet where unavailable.