Kelly and Meyer podium for Crusaders at Gerry Smith Invitational

With runners from 38 different schools participating in 2024's Gerry Smith Invitational, the field was full of incredible talent as the Mankato Loyola/Cleveland Crusaders prepared to do battle. Despite the combination of class AA and A schools running, the Crusader boys earned fourth-place led by race winner Soren Kelly as the girls finished seventh, led by Charlotte Meyer who finished in second place individually.

For the boys, Kelly's time of 16:37.7 was enough to lead the pack as he earned the gold medal followed by Sam Vetter who earned 23rd overall with a time of 17:47.0. TJ Waldron (18:08.8), Kyle Zimmerman (18:14.6) and Mitchell Buboltz (18:38.3) rounded out the team scoring as the Crusaders finished fourth with a total of 138 points.

Also running in the varsity race for ML/C were Chase Kijenski (19:40.0) as well as Andrew Tieva (21:13.8).

In the girls race, Meyer earned the silver medal with a time of 18:54.5, a new personal record for the eighth grader who helped lead the Crusader girls team to state last season. Gisele McCabe finished second for ML/C with a time of 21L40.6, earning 35th overall in the race.

Wrapping up team scoring for the team were Valerie Quast (22:19.9), Kate Daly (22:48.4) and Izzy Endres (22:49.9) as the Crusaders finished seventh with 206 points. Also competing in the varsity race were Molly Koester (22:50.5) and Teya Waagner (24:25.5).

ML/C is scheduled to return to action Tuesday, Sep. 10, when the team travels to Baylor Regional Park to compete in another large meet hosted by NYA.