By DELBERT PETERS

Sports writer

Staying healthy while the flu season affects many teams is one of the goals of Goessel cross-country teams.

The Goessel boys finished fifth as a team with two of the runners well under the 19-minute mark.  Derek Kruger led the team with a 19th place individually, finishing the five-kilometer run in 18 minutes, 2.35 seconds. Laird Goertzen came in 22nd at 18:20.63. Lukas Kemkes earned a time of 19:03.90. Chad Wedel and Said Bahloul came in several seconds apart — 20:08.88 and 20:18.68, respectively.

Stephan Goertzen crossed the line at 21:10.00. Grant Flaming ran the race in 21:12.00 with Simon Wittenschlaeger finishing in 21:43.31.  Goessel’s lead runner, Jared Reimer, was unable to finish this race.

Kristen Hoffman earned a ninth-place medal in the girls’ 4k race with a time of 17:52.85. Lindsey Wedel’s 23rd was clocked at 18:50.60 and teammate Shanna Klassen finished in the top 30, with 28th place and a time of 19:12.89. Johanna Rumler ended the race at 22:00.65. 

The Goessel teams will drive to Meade for the 2A regional Saturday.