Wolverines cross country runners (l-r) Grady Dieleman, Rider Kupka, and Brayton Davis pictured on Oct. 10 with their medals at the Montezuma Invite held in rural Searsboro. Thanks to several strong finishes, GMG boys tied for second overall during the meet just behind South Tama in first. PHOTO COURTESY OF GMG COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT/FACEBOOK

SEARSBORO – The GMG Wolverines cross country team notched another stellar evening on the course last Thursday, Oct. 10, while competing in the Montezuma Invite by tying for second with Colfax-Mingo and finishing just behind powerhouse South Tama.

During the meet, held on the grounds of Big Springs Shooting Complex east of Searsboro, Wolverine runners set several personal records including senior Grady Dieleman who placed seventh with a time of 18:11.1, junior Rider Kupka who took 10th with a time of 18:48.6, and junior Brayton Davis who crossed the finish in 16th with a time of 19:27.6 – all three earned medals for their performances.

Rounding out the team’s scores, junior Henry Dieleman came in 23rd with a personal record finish of 19:55.9 while his teammate Drayson Stephenson finished 31st with a season best time of 21:07.3.

GMG tied for second with Colfax-Mingo with 63 points just behind South Tama in first with 56 points. Belle Plaine finished fourth with 88 points, HLV was fifth with 102 points, and Montezuma was sixth with 103 points. BGM, English Valleys, and Sigourney did not field full teams.

The Wolverine girls team fielded one runner in rural Searsboro – eighth grader Addison Elmore who took fifth in the middle school girls race out of 46 runners by finishing in 11:59.8.

GMG senior Grady Dieleman runs the Montezuma Invite course in rural Searsboro. PHOTO COURTESY OF GMG COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT/FACEBOOK

This week, GMG was scheduled to run on Thursday, Oct. 17, in the Iowa Star Conference Meet held on the grounds of Wartburg College at the Max Championship Cross Country Course in Waverly. Ahead of the conference meet, Grady Dieleman was seeded No. 3 while Kupka was seeded No. 9.

The Class 1A state qualifier is set for Thursday, Oct. 24; team assignments were not available as of press time.