Lincoln East Cross Country secures three first place titles at LPS Championships

Lincoln+East+Cross+Country+huddles+after+a+successful+LPS+Championships+meet+at+Pioneers+Park+on+September+30%2C+2022.+They+won+three+first+place+titles+at+the+meet.

Photo by Lynette Meyer

Lincoln East Cross Country huddles after a successful LPS Championships meet at Pioneers Park on September 30, 2022. They won three first place titles at the meet.

The Lincoln Public Schools cross country championship meet took place on September 30, 2022 at Pioneers Park. The Lincoln East girls and boys both dominated the race, each claiming a first place team title. In addition, junior Mia Murray also took home an individual win for first place in the girl’s race, along with a personal record time.

The girls team kept their streak alive, winning the LPS Championships for the eighth year in a row. Murray’s record time of 18:11.80 was followed by senior Berlyn Schutz (second), junior Peyton Svehla (fourth), junior Jordyn Wissing (fifth), and senior Karen Kiratu (sixth). With a team score of 18, made up of the top five runner’s places, East took the lead being 48 points ahead of Lincoln Southwest’s second place.

“We are getting stronger every race and it’s really exciting because we just keep winning and doing our thing,” Schutz said.

The boys team blazed their way to a new streak, winning the city title for the second year in a row. Senior Isaac Graff finished in second place with a time of 16:27.58, followed by junior Hudson Davy (third), senior Drew Arduser (sixth), sophomore Caleb Ruch (eleventh), and freshman Ben Schlegelmilch (fourteenth). With a team score of 36, East prevailed by a mere three points ahead of Lincoln Southwest.

“It was a hot day and we came ready to run,” Davy said. “It didn’t go exactly as planned, but it went as good as it could’ve for a day like this.”

With the District and State Championship meets approaching in the next three weeks, East will be a force to be reckoned with on both the girls and boys teams.