The unofficial kickoff to the fall sports season was Tuesday night at Hillcrest Academy in Kalona as the Ravens hosted their annual Early Bird Cross Country Meet. In the girls event Hillcrest placed fifth of five scoring teams with their total of 101. City High won the team title with their score of 15. Top finisher for the Ravens was sophomore Leah Bontrager with her eighth place time of 23:44. Other finishers for Hillcrest Academy were Sarena Gerber 12th, Taryn Leichty 32nd, Julia Boller 33rd and Ainsley Shaw 44th.

On the boys side Hillcrest was seventh of seven scoring teams with a 208. Cedar Rapids Jefferson won the meet with their score of 38. Top finisher for the Ravens was Collin Miller in 44th in a time of 24:10. Other finishers for Hillcrest included Colby Harris 45th, Jesse Slater 47th, Toby Chen 52nd, Owen Swartzendruber 55th and Johnny Diaz 57th. After the meet, Hillcrest Academy Head Coach Marty Gingerich talked about what stood out from his team’s performance. “The team ran well. We have returning runners on the girls side and one new runner in Taryn Leichty. Leah Bontrager and Sarena Gerber both ran in the top 11. The course is running a little slow with the softer conditions. Overall, I feel good about how the girls ran today. The boys were a little less predictable. Collin Miller was our number one for the first time. We know what we need to do to improve moving forward.”

The Ravens will next be on the course September 12th when they travel to Fairfield.