Rath lead Kirkwood with a time of 17 minutes, 21 seconds and an 11th place finish. Fargo placed 27th with a time of 18 minutes, and Charlie Hooks, junior, finished 21st in 17 minutes, 54 seconds.

“[The varsity team] ran really well considering we were missing two of our best runners and the competition was pretty tough,” Andrew Hopkins, sophomore and junior varsity runner, said.

The junior varsity team ran comparatively better than the varsity, coming in first in the team rankings with eight top-20 finishers, including Jack Mullendore, sophomore (third place), Sean Miller, junior (fourth place), and Matt Kasten, senior (fifth place).

“I could not be more pleased with how [the junior varsity team] ran in our first [five thousand meter race] of the season,” Hopkins said.

The freshman team had four medalists place in the top 20; Jake Super, fifth place, Drew Wagner, sixth place, Will Morton, eighth place, and Liam Terrio, 16th place.

“The freshmen ran incredibly fast in their first [five thousand meter race] ever. They had some blazing fast times and I am very proud,” Hopkins said.

The entire team is now preparing for the Parkway Central Invitational this Thursday, September 13th. Changes in the varsity lineup may occur based on performances at Stan Nelson and practice leading up to the meet.

http://www.ffstl2.com/races/northwestxc/2012-boys-overall.htm