Cloy McVey takes 14th at highly competitive Heartland Preview Meet

The Lennox High School cross country teams traveled to Yankton Trail Park on Saturday, Sept. 13, to take part in the Nike Heartland Preview, a meet that featured competitive fields across varsity, junior varsity, and middle school divisions. This meet brings in over 1200 athletes from over 30 schools and multiple states. 

Senior Cloy McVey paced the boys’ team with a top-15 finish, running 16:36.00 for 14th place among the very competitive field. 

Sophomore Isaak Booker crossed the line in 17:36.90 (57th), followed closely by freshman Landon Strasser, who ran a personal-best 17:43.20 for 68th. Sophomore Leo Aesoph posted a time of 18:18.80 (110th), while sophomore Jackson Schmidt set a personal record of 18:50.20 (135th). Freshman Charley Bittner came through in 20:29.40 (198th), and junior Cade Aasheim also earned a PR with his 20:43.80 finish (206th).

For the varsity girls, freshman Adie McVey led the Orioles with a strong finish, placing 23rd in 19:56.50. She was followed by fellow freshman Kamille Schmidt in 74th at 21:41.10, and eighth grader Sophia Johnson, who clocked 22:18.60 for 92nd place. Rounding out the varsity lineup, Allison Loewe ran 22:47.10 (109th) and Lucy Carlson finished in 23:03.70 (118th).

In the girls’ Junior Varsity, eighth grader Kensi Holland was Lennox’s top finisher in the JV race, running 19:40.30. Freshman Harper Walsh followed in 21:21.00, and sophomore Kaydence Gerry rounded out the group in 25:00.40.

For the boys’ JV, freshman Lance Aasheim had a breakout race, clocking a personal-best 16:39.40. Junior Isaiah Sayler (17:00.70) and junior Duncan Johnson (17:17.20) packed closely together. Freshman Quinten Lunt ran 17:29.60, while juniors Cade DeWolf (19:58.50) and senior Karson Iken (20:18.10) rounded out the squad.

In the girls’ middle school race, eighth grader Sophie Wood set a new personal record, finishing in 14:36.90. Classmate Adalynn Nielson ran 14:44.50 for a season-best, while Lily Kuiken crossed in 16:34.30. For the boys’ middle school, seventh grader Gage Ebbeson finished in 13:25.50, with classmate Sawyer Johnson running a personal-best 14:01.00.

The LHS cross country team will compete at Sioux Center on Thursday, Sept. 25 with races beginning at 4:30 p.m. They will be at home on Thursday, Oct. 2, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Lenkota Golf Course. On Oct. 9 they compete in Dell Rapids in the DakXII Conference Meet and on Oct. 16 they compete in Regions at Parkston. State will be held Oct. 25 in Huron.