By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
With the inaugural Metro Classic Conference meet in the books, the Catholic Central High School cross country team is now setting its sights higher – on qualifying for state.
“The conference meet is a progression race for our athletes,” said coach Keith Mulhollon.
The Hilltoppers travel to Lake Country Lutheran this Saturday for the sectional meet, coming off a second-place finish for the girls and a third-place finish for the boys at the MCC meet.
The Lady ’Toppers were led by Kathleen Straube and Kourtney Mulhollon, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Five other members of the CCHS girls team finished in the top 25 – Cassie Reesman in 11th, Jennifer Smith in 13th, Patty Kempken in 18th, Ashley Reesman in 21st and Shelby Frederick in 25th.
On the boys side, Sam Joski finished third. Mitch Vos (15th), Jake Laforest (16th), Gavin Foote (17th) and Gavin Clayton (18th) rounded out the scorers. Andrew Sember (27th) and Brandon Hoffman (38th) rounded out the team.
The Hilltoppers will need to finish in the top two in the team race or have an individual finish in the top five from those not on qualifying teams to make it to state.