The Carlisle varsity girls cross country team toed the line at the Grinnell Invitational on Tuesday, September 8th. Their second meet of the season brought cold temperatures, high winds and light rain. Despite the conditions, the Wildcats ran with grit and determination and raced to an impressive second-place team finish. In the field of ten teams, the Wildcats (with a team score of 62), placed second behind the dominant Williamsburg Raiders, who finished with a team score of 36. The Wildcats ran a great pack race, improving their strategy from the last meet. From an individual standpoint, junior Ainsley Erzen, currently ranked No. 1 in 3A, beat her own 5k school record by one second with a time of 18:32. Freshman Marie Daggett and sophomores Riley Sievers and Hannah McGraw also turned in season/career personal-best efforts. The Wildcats will be back in action on Monday, September 14 at Ballard.

1 Ainsley Erzen, Jr 18:32

4 Tessa Erzen, So 20:19

15 Marie Daggett, Fr 21:46

19 Maya Bergstrom, Fr 22:05

23 Riley Sievers. So 21:39

28 Laura Downs, So 23:08

37 Hannah McGraw, So 23:53

JV XC Girls Place 2nd at Grinnell

The Wildcat JV squad also turned in a second-place team finish at the Grinnell invitational on Tuesday. The JV race followed the varsity race, which proved to be challenging as the weather conditions worsened. Again, despite true "cross country" conditions, the ladies persevered all the way through the finish. This race was also packed with solid times. Sage Austin, Bri White, Ella Andersen, and Madelynn McFadden all recorded season/career personal-best efforts. The Wildcats have several girls competing for those top seven varsity spots. 

6 Sage Austin, So 23:29

7 Bri White, Fr 23:36

12 Ella Andersen, Sr 24:40

15 Katie Keeney, So 26:26

23 Madelynn McFadden, So 30:22

DNF Cadence Sinclair, So xx:xx