By Bruce Karnick

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The weather was just about perfect for the first cross country tri of the year as Hastings traveled to Cottage Grove to take on Park and East Ridge. The five kilometer course was set, two laps with a few hills and valleys around the Cottage Grove Middle School / Grey Cloud Elementary grounds.

Parents flocked to the course to cheer on the teams for what is usually about an hour for both races. For this race, the boys ran first. Scoring is simple for Cross Country, it’s similar to golf, the lower the score the better. Each runner gets a point for their team for the place the finish in the race and each team must have five runners finish to compete for the team score.

The Hastings boys placed third with a score of 63, Park was second with a 40 and East Ridge took first with a score of 29.

Tyler Bushinski third – 16:56.12 Noah Quigley ninth – 18:30.84 Tommy Siebenaler 15th – 18:59.09 Aiden Stoltz 19th – 19:23.97 Max Albertson 20th – 19:45.02 Aaron Herber 21st – 19:53.24 The Hastings girls placed second with a score of 42, East Ridge took first with a 15.

Skylar Little Soldier sixth – 23:41.81 Jordyn Doughty seventh – 24:32.1 Autumn Adricula eighth – 24:36.6 Hanna Hoff ninth – 24:52.85 Alison Weinzettel 12th – 26:28.20 Jaylyn Pistner 13th – 26:51.10 Eve Larson 14th – 26:55.03 The next race for the Raiders is September 14th at St. Croix Regional Bluffs, 5:00 p.m. vs the conference for the conference prelims. Remember, St. Croix Bluffs is a county park and does require a parking permit. Buy the year sticker if you plan on going to more than two races including Nordic skiing.

Tyler Bushinksi leads the crowd of Raiders from the start of this years first race. Bushinski was the top finisher for Hastings at third overall. Photo by Bruce Karnick