On a Tuesday, the Rebels ran at Grinnell. This was one of the warmest meets in recent memory. And unfortunately, this meet saw several young people suffer from heat related injuries. Fortunately, none of them were serious. This meet featured several 3A and 4A programs, and the Rebels struggled with the conditions and with the strong competition.

The Rebels were led by Megan Oelschlager on the girls side. She finished the race with a time of 19:01. The boys were led by Vasya Strohbehn with a time of 24:56.

On Saturday, in much better conditions, the Rebels traveled to Atkins for the Benton Community Invitationa. Again, GR saw some strong competition, but handled the challenge much differently. Everyone competed at a different level and really established a positive tone to the remainder of the season.

Again, the Lady Rebels were paced by Megan Oelschlager with a time of 18:14, but nearly every member of the team set a personal best. On the boys side, Tyler Bovy set the pace with a time of 19:21.

The effort and attitude were much more positive from Tuesday to Saturday. This was a positive step for the program. I was also very proud of our Middle School runners on their performances on Saturday. If we continue to improve and get everyone healthy, we can still have a strong finish to the season. But with 2 of the top female runners sidelined with injuries, our team score will not be indicative of the entire group. Also, I am very proud of the effort and improvement on the boys side. Vasya, Cole, and Tyler are all improving at each meet. Collectively, we will continue to work hard each day and hopefully get everyone back healthy before the final push of the season.