The Mercer Island Cross Country team dominated against Bellevue on Senior Night, Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Even without their top three runners, the girls’ team handily defeated Bellevue 20-40. While Bellevue runner Hannah Lorenz took first place, the next five runners to cross the finish line were all from Mercer Island.
In the boys’ race, runners on both teams accidentally cut the course short, making the race officially count as a three-mile race instead of a five-kilometer race. However, the Islander boys still earned a perfect score.
“We cut the course on one of our last laps, so it wasn’t an official 5k,” senior captain Ryan Koopman said. “[However], we perfect-scored Bellevue, so we had five runners in before their first runner.”
Koopman led the way for the Islander boys, with freshman Owen Powell and senior Kai Zettel finishing close behind him. The girls were led by freshman Marley McDonald.
One of the goals of the meet was to honor the 23 cross country seniors, which garnered significantly more spectators. Among the fans were the spirited Flag Dudes, who amplified the energy of the afternoon at Luther Burbank Park.
“It was incredible, we had flag dudes there, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen flag dudes at any cross country meet;” Koopman said. “A lot of people showed up and it was way more exciting than it has been in past years.”
MIXC will look forward to the rest of their season, as both the boys’ and the girls’ teams have a chance to make successful postseason runs.
“[The boys] have a really strong possibility of getting through districts and going to state,” Koopman said. “We’ll see how well we do, we [could] go as a team to state or as individual runners.”
The MIXC team’s next regular season meet will be at Lindbergh High School, Wednesday, Oct. 6, against five other teams.
