Harlan Community Girls’ XC Wins Home Invite, Boys’ 13th

Harlan Community Cross Country's Lindsey Sonderman & Ashlyn Rau (9-28-24)

Harlan Community Girls’ XC Wins Home Invite, Boys’ 13th –

(9-28-24) – The home fans got what they came to see Saturday.

Harlan Community’s Class 3A 4th-ranked girls’ cross country was able earn the team victory in the Cyclone Invitational with 63 pts, just 1 pt ahead of 2nd place St. Albert and 3 pts ahead of Glenwood.

The Cyclone’s Lindsey Sonderman finished 2nd with a time of 18:27.11. She says the camaraderie their team has built has been key to the special season they’re putting together.

“I think we're all really supportive of each other and encouraging. Nobody doesn't like anybody. We all want each other to do good and we understand that like it's really important for us to win. But we understand that it's even more important for us to just be close as a team and have that special bond that you don't get with anybody else.”

Ashlyn Rau finished 6th with a time 19:50.11 as she continues to steadily improve. She says it took her some time to get used to running such a long distance.

“The first couple of races I just learned how to run 3 miles because it was hard for me to run the course, but now I'm more comfortable running the course and with I'm I know some of these girls not too, so it makes me feel a lot more comfortable when I'm running.”

Brylee Schechinger was 16th, Aspen Bieker 19th, and Allie Anderson 20th for the Cyclones.

St. Albert’s Lily Denton won the girls’ event with at time of 18:16.15. Sonderman likes being challenged by Denton.

“It was really special. I love having Lily around just because she pushes me. I haven't raced her for a couple of races so it was nice to be back and just having a good pacer is really nice.”

The Cyclone boys’ finished 13th in a crowded and talented field, with Eric Heslink finishing 25th with a time of 18:30.65 and Jeffery Gross 18:33.39.

Lewis Central’s Evan Lillie was your top boys’ runner with a time of 16:04.28. The Titans took 3 of the Top-4 spots with Marshall Arkfeld 3rd and Kevin Coots 4th to win the invite with 33pts. Woodbine was 2nd and Riverside 3rd.

Competing on her home course for the last time was special for Sonderman.

“It's really nice. I always love running our home course. It's really fast and just the familiarity of the environment and the people. It's really special.

It's just something really special to be part

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