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ALEXANDRIA – A hot and windy day presented a challenge for the Marshall cross-country teams at the 53rd annual Alexandria Lions Meet of Champions on Saturday, but the Tigers came away with valuable experience and several strong individual performances.
On the girls side, Katelyn Leibrfried led Marshall with a third-place finish, crossing the line in 19 minutes, 47.0 seconds. Claire Kruse also turned in a strong performance, placing sixth in 19:55.7.
On the boys side, Marshall competed with a different lineup than usual, going without its top runner while moving four members of its normal varsity group into the seventh- through ninth-grade race.
With difficult weather conditions making season-best and personal-best times harder to achieve, the focus shifted toward competing against the runners around them and learning how to race in challenging conditions.
Despite the lineup changes, the meet provided a valuable opportunity for Marshall’s younger runners to gain experience against strong competition.
The Tigers viewed the experience as an important step toward the championship portion of the season, while also offering a glimpse of what the program could accomplish in the coming years.
With a young group continuing to develop, Marshall sees plenty of potential ahead as it prepares for the final stretch of the season.