The Lincoln East boys and girls cross country teams started the season off with a bang last Saturday, September 7th, in the Titan Classic hosted by Papillion LaVista South. It was the first meet of the season as the girls looked to defend as State Champs, as the boys looked to improve on a successful 2018 season that included an appearance at state. 

The Spartan girls started the year the same way they finished last year, a 1st place finish. East had 7 girls finish in the top 15 which included 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th place finishes. Freshman Berlyn Schutz finished 1st overall with a finishing time of 19 minutes flat. She was 14 seconds ahead of the next closest athlete, which happened to be Junior Jenna Muma also from East. Overall the girls got first in the meet, with 22 pts (Lowest Score Wins). Papillion LaVista South finished with 47, and Lincoln Southwest finished with 81 to round out the top 3. 

As for the Spartan boys, they started the season off with a 3rd place finish with 71 pts, Papillion LaVista South finished with 43 points; eventual champion Lincoln Southwest finished with 22. Senior Thomas Oliver led the Spartan boys with a time of 16:57:90 which was good enough for 4th place. Junior Zach Smith was the only other top 15 finisher for the Spartans, his time was 17:53:50 for 14th place. 

East looks to continue their success next Friday, September 13th at the Millard South Invitational Meet.