Seniors Dylan Wiley and Gavin Weinstein led the MSMS cross-country team to two top-10 finishes at the season’s first meet, the Eagle’s Claw Invitational at Eupora High School on Aug. 26.

Wiley finished sixth in the 5K with a time of 19:37.17. Weinstein, co-captain of the Frazer team, immediately followed in seventh, with only seconds separating his time, 19:42.38, from Wiley’s.

Though Wiley and Weinstein finished with the fastest times, all MSMS cross-country runners set a strong foundation for the rest of the season. The Frazer team finished in fifth place out of the 22 schools competing in the 5K, scoring 131 points and boasting an average time of 22:10. As for the Goen team, senior Chloe Wesley led the pack and finished 49th with a time of 31:46.03 in the 5K.

MSMS had one of the largest cross-country teams, if not the largest, in school history compete at this meet. From the Frazer team, seniors and co-captains Roman Luckett and Andrew Grieve, along with juniors Lucas Griffith, Lucas Sloan, Jonathan Stancill, Ramse Jefferson, Tuff Shaw, Manjot Singh and Manpreet Singh, ran in the 5K. From the Goen team, seniors Audrey Guynes and Georgianna McKenny and juniors Liz Brittain and Brooke Anderson participated in the event.

Though the teams only had a couple of real practices before this meet, Weinstein said each runner did an amazing job and he’s proud of everyone for showing up despite the extreme heat. 

“I did not do as well as I was hoping for, but there are still many meets to go, and I still have high hopes for achieving my goals and the team’s goals [this season],” Weinstein said. 

Luckett said he thought his performance was all right considering the extreme heat and tough terrain, and he’s looking forward to what the rest of the season holds.

“My hope is to get a new [personal record] at least a minute faster than my current PR,” Luckett said. “More importantly, I hope to cultivate a cross-country team at MSMS with more longevity than [ones in] our previous years.”

Weinstein thanked Coordinator of Activities Veleria Scott and co-captains Luckett and Grieve for supporting him.

“[They’ve] helped me run practices, drive to the meet and do everything else needed to [manage] a cross-country team,” Weinstein said. “We do not have an official coach, so it has been a group effort to get the team up and running this season.”

The MSMS cross-country team’s next meet is at Mooreville High School on Sept. 9 at 8:30 a.m.