The Exira-EHK Spartans Cross Country teams are feeling very good about their standing heading into the last weeks of the season. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have multiple runners in the top 10 in the Rolling Valley conference with four meets remaining.

For the boys, they have five of the top 10 best times in the conference. Tim Reinhart, Ben Baggett, Cater Wiemann, and Josiah King have posted the seventh through tenth best times respectively.  Head Coach Kevin Brown is not only pleased with the way they’ve worked but also the way they’ve performed given their youth and inexperience.

Junior Austin Rasmussen has been Exira-EHK’s best runner this season. His best time of 17:43.00 currently ranks second in the conference. In addition to being a leader and helping his team gain five top-10 finishes this year, Brown says Rasmussen has a chance to do special things moving forward.

Unlike the boys, the girls group has been together for quite some time. Most of the girls on the team have been running cross country since middle school.  The Spartans’ girls have two top 10 finishes this year and like the boys have numerous runners with top 15 times. Ruby VanderWal, Gracie Bartz, and Kaitlyn Christensen all rank in the top 15, and Coach Brown knows that their experience has played a key role in their success.

Leading the way for the Exira-EHK girls this season has been the young sophomore Michelle Wilson. She ran her best time of 22:15.33 on September 24th which has her ranked sixth in the conference. Sophomore Leah Boysen isn’t far behind, with her best time of 23:58.71 placing her at seventh. Brown has not only appreciated their work throughout the season but also realized their potential for this season and for years to come.

The Spartans will be in action on Thursday when they compete at IKM-Manning. The meet is scheduled for 4:30 pm.