Last Friday, Westside cross country competed in the Platte River Rumble.  Both teams had strong performances with the boys placing fifth and the girls placing sixth.

Seniors Claire White and Stella Miner placed in the second and third at the meet respectively.  Both runners broke 18 minutes in the 5k for the first time in their careers.

“I’ve been in the 18s for the past three years, but to go sub 18 was really exciting and kind of a surprise,” Miner said.

Sophomore Mia Urosevich has also been slowly improving throughout the season, running her quickest 5k of the year finishing with a time of 19:47.9.

Senior Jayden Wall and junior Conor Gross both ran well on the boys side of things. Gross broke the school record for the 5k running a time of 15:32.0.  

“It was my goal for the season, so I guess I was overjoyed and just happy that it happened,” Gross said.

Gross tries to separate nervous thoughts he may have during high pressure situations by leaning on his teammates.

“I try to transfer thoughts that are one me to a greater cause,” Gross said. “I like to think about my team, so like if I do better the team does better.” 

Junior Ryan Kugler also ran a personal record time of 15:50.5.  Kugler has made a lot of progress in his running this year, and will give the boys a greater chance of making it through districts and eventually placing at state.

Both teams have the potential to make it to state this year. With all of their runners putting up good times at these competitive meets, they could make a good run at districts and potentially state.