Armstrong leads Spartans to second place at Patriot Invitational

By Fred Kroner

Led by senior Aden Armstrong, the individual runner-up, the St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ cross-country team captured second place on Saturday (Oct. 14) in the 38-school Patroit Invitational at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Armstrong ran the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 29.80 seconds.

Two of his teammates finished among the top 25 in a race with 310 competitors.

Junior Jack Fisher was 16^th (16:09.10) and sophomore Lance Retz was 21^st (16:19.40).

Other Spartans in the varsity race were freshman Colin Burnett (50^th in 16:52.80), freshman Nate Farney (73^rd in 17:17.40), junior Joe Griebat (99^th in 17:43.80) and junior E.J. Beckett (187^th in 19:20.50).

In the team chase, Elmwood won with 77 points. Runner-up SJ-O had 154 points and edged out third-place Pleasant Plains (155 points).

In the junior varsity portion of the meet, SJ-O’s Cyrus Zaden placed 20^th (19:19.20) and Hayden Douglas was 29^th (19:37.50) in a race with 91 finishers.

SJ-O will return to action on Saturday (Oct. 21) in a 19-school Class 1A sectional at Chrisman.