By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

The north wind arrived early in the afternoon on Thursday dropping the temperatures to a comfortable level and Goessel cross-country runners enjoyed the day.

Brittny Czarnowsky was pleased with her race.

“It was a good day. I set a personal record in the first race of the season,” she said with a smile.

The only girl on the team, Czarnowsky ran a smart race, according to coach Derrick Birdsell, finishing 20th out of 63 runners in the 4000-meter girls open class with a time of 18 minutes, 18 seconds.

Laird Goertzen also opened the season with his personal best race in the 5000-meter. His 18:03 time earned him a seventh-place medal out of 122 runners.

“Laird ran well, moving past several runners who began the race too quickly,” Birdsell said.

Three freshmen picked up valuable experience in their first high school meet. Nathan Czarnowsky finished at 21:10, Heath Goertzen 21:20, and Ben Wiens 23:46. Grant Flaming had a time of 22:44.

Garrett Woelk ran for the first time in high school and entered the freshman/sophomore 2-mile race. He clocked a time of 17:49.

Goessel will compete Thursday at Hesston.