Cross Country boys finish eighth at Glenwood meet

GLENWOOD — The Red Oak Cross Country team made its 2011 debut at the Glenwood Invite, last Tuesday.

The boys cross country team finished eighth out of eight teams competing in Glenwood with 187 points. Alex Jorgensen led the Tigers with a ninth place finish, giving the sophomore his first medal of the season. Brandon Bergren was the next top finisher for Red Oak as he placed 34th. Travis Fornier, Logan LeRette and Jake Smith were 46th, 50th and 52nd, respectively. Jared Sherman took 56th, while Gage Palmer was 59th.

Glenwood's boys team won the team title with 25 points.

The girls team did not have a full team entered, so they weren't able to get points for varsity, instead running junior varsity. Brittney Plambeck was the top finisher for the Tigers, taking 30th. Ellen Fellers was right behind Plambeck in 31st. Bevin Griffin took 50th, with Julie Laughlin, who was in her first race, placed 55th.

For  junior varsity boys, Caleb Orme was Red Oak's top finisher, placing 44th. Carl Mertz was next in line as he took 56th. Marcus Blay was 82nd and Hayden Berry finished in 96th place. Tanner Allensworth and Michael Manchester were 107th and 109th, respectively. The JV boys team finished eighth out of eight teams with 211 points.

For middle schoolers, Weston Rolenc, a seventh grader, came away with a ninth place ribbon for the Red Oak Middle School team. Lyndon Bright finished outside of the top 10, in 11th place. Sean Griffen took 25th for Red Oak.

Red Oak was slated to compete Saturday at the Abraham Lincoln Invite in Council Bluffs. However, the event was postponed due to lightning in the area.

On Tuesday, Red Oak competed at the Clarinda Invite. Results weren't available as of press time. It's their only meet scheduled for this week.