Tuesday at Hillcrest Academy, the Raven’s annual early bird cross country meet served as a showcase for area running talent.

In the boys event, Hillcrest Academy was second in the team standings with 39 points, behind Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s winning 21. Micah Gerber led the way for the Ravens, one of three Hillcrest runners to finish in the top 10, placing fifth overall in 20:11. Other Raven finishers included Mason Wilson eighth, Jesse Blossom 10th, Isaac Beachy 17th, Jeremiah Danker 23rd, Braden Hartsock 25th and Kyle Neuschwander 30th.

For Highland, they were third in the team standings with 77 points. Jacob Schneider was 20th in 23:52, followed by teammates Chase Hickenbottom 24th, Jack Krotz 26th, Tate Stumpf 27th, Brayden Zywiec 28th, Isaac Giesmann 32nd and Jackson Schneider 33rd.

Top area boys finish overall went to Kohlby Newsom of Winfield-Mt. Union, with his runner-up time of 19:20. He spoke with KCII sports after the meet about his night. “I just wanted to get under 19. The only thing we planned out tonight was our first mile pace, which we all did pretty well hitting. My first mile pace I was told to hit was a 5:45 and I got a 5:33. The key was just making sure that you weren’t slowing down too much. Try to stay up with the person ahead of you and attack the hills. It’s the first meet of the season so, we’re just going to get better from here on out.”

Other runners for the Wolves included Gabriel Hemsworth sixth, Bowen Thomson ninth and Jacob Nelson 18th.

The WACO Warriors were paced by Keiran Luitjens in seventh at 20:42. Tristan Luitjens was 12th for WACO and Deacon Bird 22nd.

Three Lone Tree runners were on the course with Brock Nebergal posting a team best 22:05 for 13th place followed by Taylor Alberhasky 19th and Joey Birtcher 29th.

In the girls contest, no area teams posted scores but there were plenty of individual performances to highlight.

For the home Ravens, freshman Marie Yoder finished third in 21:35. She spoke about the night after her race. “I really wanted to stay with the front of the pack. I wanted to keep it at an even pace the whole time. I wanted to really stay strong all the way through and make it up the hills at an even pace. I started off really strong and finished well. I think I did pretty well for my first 5K.”

Other Ravens included Delaney Shaw 22nd, Brynna O’Rourke 27th.

Highland was led by Siena Stanerson in 11th with a time of 24:20, teammate Erika Thomann was 23rd.

Lone Tree’s Lady Lions sent a trio to Kalona with Vivian Zaruba taking top honors in 14th with a time of 26:12. Jazmine Nino was 21st and Abby Zaruba 34th.

Winfield-Mt. Union’s top time came from Afton Wilkerson 17th in 26:36. Maggie Hutton was 38th and Karilyn Titus 39th.

WACO’s Justine Lynn was the team leader in 24th with 28:44. Other Warriors included Sarah Craun 32nd and Deedra Graber 37th.