Clinton Redwolves XC ventured out to Ella Sharp Park for our first meet of the season on Wednesday, August 16th! We had sunny, hot weather with no wind which was rough for a few kids (on the other teams) in the 6 mile relay. The varsity race was structured as a 3 person relay where each runner ran two miles and passed their baton of choice in the exchange zone. Examples of batons were sandals, scrunchies, books, a Barbie doll, and a floatie. While running, the athletes scaled over three sections of hay bales, steeplechase style. Top 10 in the varsity relay earned medals and top 15 in the two mile jv race earned medals. Coach Hillegonds and Coach Dewald ran the race as well!

The girls made an impression as the relay team of Allison Bowles, Samantha Coots and Cylee Elkins finished first. They were so far ahead of the second place Chelsea team, that when Chelsea finished the race, they were flummoxed to receive their second place medals, thinking that they had won. Chelsea was followed closely by another team of Clinton girls consisting of Sarah King, Zoey Sierer, and Aurelia Bennett to take third place. For the boys, great performances were posted and medals were earned by the girls mentioned above as well as by Lucas Goodman, Gabe Manchester, Ronan Stelzer, Austin Strand, Justin Celmer, Luis Piatt, Nic Spicer, Eric Ramsey, Nicko DeVitto, Ruby Faulkner, and Emerald Sierer.

This is the first time that Clinton has competed in this meet, and it turned out to be a low pressure, yet competitive event for athletes to help shake out the nerves in preparation for their first 5k race on Saturday morning at Tecumseh High School. Girls will race at 8:30am and boys will follow. Get your tickets on GoFan - $10 per vehicle. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Redwolvesxc and X (Twitter) at @XCVillage