It can be challenging to keep an entire team healthy throughout the fall sports season. From nagging injuries to illnesses, athletes often have to push through for the good of the team.

The Summit High School cross-country team recently faced that reality, toeing the line at the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Seeing that several athletes were under the weather in the week leading up to the race, Summit head coach Mike Hagen and assistant coach Eva Hagen stressed the importance of learning how to compete even when they may not be feeling 100%.

Spearheading the performances was the Summit High School boys cross-country team. After being ranked 37th in the nation by Dyestat following the Liberty Bell Invitational, the Tigers took to the 5-kilometer course hoping to continue their dominance as a team.    

Although many of the nine boys competing for Summit were feeling less than their best, the team rose to the occasion and competed for something bigger than themselves. Junior Jay McDonald was Summit’s first runner to cross the finish line in the boys championship race.

Familiar with the classic Midwest race after competing at the meet last fall, McDonald cruised over the grassy hills before charging to the finish line. Following a 51st-place finish at last year’s event, McDonald moved up 47 places to take fourth overall in a time of 15 minutes, 51.00 seconds. 

McDonald was preceded by Minnetonka High School senior Sean Fries in first (15:29.80), Brandon Valley High School senior Mikah Peters in second (15:44.30) and Liberty High School junior Keegan Decker in third (15:45.90). 

Summit was able to put another runner within the top 25. Remaining stoic in the humid, hot conditions, junior Lukas Remeikis clocked a time of 16:39.00 for 25th overall. Junior Owen Fallon followed Remeikis in 39th place, sneaking under 17 minutes in a time of 16:54.20.

Recognizing that several of his teammates were faltering late in the race, freshman Crosby Hume dug deep over the last kilometer of the race. Hume finished the race as Summit’s fourth runner on the day, crossing the finish line in 64th place in a time of 17:13.30.

“There were so many people in Minnesota, and it was a pretty difficult race with all the hills,” Hume said. “You had to go out so hard. I kept the mentality of keep going, keep pushing throughout the whole race. I was able to get up past Carter and have a good race.”

Senior Carter Niemkiewicz rounded out the scoring for the Tigers by taking 79th in a time of 17:21.50. Senior Cain Steinweg took 168th (17:59.40), junior John McDonald finished in 191st (18:11.20), sophomore Cooper Levi took 300th (19:00.40) and sophomore Bodhi Adnan finished in 382nd (19:56.80).

With a total of 185 points, Summit took second overall in the boys championship race. Sioux Falls Lincoln High School won the meet with 161 points, and Liberty North High School took third with 230 points. 

“The team looked super strong,” Hume said. “We got second, which is great for our team. All of our top guys were not at 100%. I was feeling good, so I wanted to help the team out. I think I did a good job of that.”

The five Summit girls competing in the girls championship race also had standout races in Minnesota. Coming off a top-15 finish in her first high school 5K race, freshman Kayla Broecker continued to race with confidence.

Leaning heavily on her ability to remain composed on challenging courses, Broecker crossed the finish line in a time of 18:56.00 to take eighth overall among nearly 400 competitors. Sophomore Sophie Dinse was the next Summit athlete to break across the finish line, taking 116th in a time of 21:13.20.

Junior Lily Benbow was also able to finish in the top third of the race, finishing in 134th place in a time of 21:20.60. The performance marked a seven-place and 0.30-second improvement from last year’s race.

Freshman Leah Noble and senior Lila Ellison were the final runners to score for Summit. Noble took 264th (22:54.10), and Ellison finished in 365th (24:48.40). 

With a total score of 756, Summit finished 31st out of 43 teams in the team results. The race was won by No. 8 Wayzata High School with a total of 106 points.

Members of the team that did not travel to Roy Griak will now prepare for the Canon City High School Cross-Country Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 25. The athletes that are coming off the Minnesota trip will stay in Summit County to train for the latter half of the season, which includes the team’s home meet — Summit Stinger at Copper — on Oct. 3.

“We are going to have the Copper Stinger in two weeks, which is going to be great,” Hume said. “We have two, hard training weeks coming up, so those are going to be really beneficial for the whole team. I am super excited to see what the second half of the season brings.”

The Summit Stinger will begin with middle school races at 4 p.m. with the high school races to follow at 5 p.m.  The high school race consists of three, 1,667-meter loops around the Copper Creek Golf Course, making it ideal for spectators.