The Washington cross country teams saw their first action of the new season last night in Ottumwa, with the girls placing fourth and the boys placing sixth in fields of 13 teams.

Seven Washington girls placed in the top 40 in their race: Tori Hinson led the charge at 21st, Claire Horak was just five seconds behind to finish 22nd, Kelsey Pacha placed 29th, Molly Sparks came in 33rd, Abby Voss was a place behind her at 34, and Grace Schiebel came in 39th.

On the boys’ side, Washington had three runners in the top 40, including Evan Horak coming in third overall with a time of 17:45.  Lance Sobaski finished 18th, and Matt Collett came in 35th.

The middle school scene was successful for Washington as well, with the girls placing third overall and the boys winning it all.  Those teams each had their share of top 15 finishers, including Elijah Morris taking first place in the boys’ race.

The teams will run in their next meet on Thursday at Fairfield’s Waterworks Park.  The meet kicks off at 5:00 with the junior high boys’ race, with the other races to follow.