The Bishop Manogue Cross Country team competed in the Madman Mills Motivational Cross Country meet last Friday at North Tahoe High School.

The boys won in the sophomore division, with an impressive 1-2-3-4 finish by Grant Carman, Erik Swanson, Ben Johnson, and Matt Johnson, respectively. Freshmen Rowan Flynn, Diogo Pineda, and Ben Johnson decided to run as sophomores to contribute to the sophomore boys’ victory, as five runners are needed in each division to count as having a full team. On the girls’ side, the frosh/soph girls got second place in their division, with impressive results from Emmery Scolari and Evelyn Roodhouse, who achieved second and third place, respectively. The varsity boys got fourth place, with an impressive seventh-place finish by Xavier Roodhouse. The varsity girls were also fourth in their division, with Summer Roleson leading their team with an 11th-place finish. Their success was influenced by head coach Laura Zander, who decided to move some varsity runners into the sophomore division to have a better chance at winning in that division.

The two courses that were run were 3.1 miles and 3.6 miles for the frosh/soph divisions and the varsity divisions. Both courses are notorious for the large hill about a mile into the race, which slows runners down and also features very rocky terrain, making it hard to find good footing. Despite these challenges, the Miners found great success on this course. Their next meet is the Josh Ruff Invitational in Rocklin, California, where they hope to find more success against some of the most prominent cross-country teams in the nation.