By DELBERT PETERS

Staff writer

Four of Goessel’s cross-country athletes earned medals in a large meet Thursday at Hesston, where each participant competed against other athletes in their grade.

Julia Nightengale picked up the 13th place in the senior race with a time of 24 minutes, 37 seconds.

“I like cross country because you try to improve individually, and yet it is definitely a team sport,” said Nightengale.

Elyse Boden ran the 5,000-meter race in 25:22 to place 16th among sophomores. Cassandra Rust finished 15th among freshmen with a time of 26:32.

For the boys, Dawson Duerksen ran the fastest 5K in 20:59, but missed a medal in the freshman race by two spots. Jerah Schmidt placed 19th in the sophomore race with a time of 21:33.

Goessel will be at Bennington on Thursday.