(Atlantic) A large field is expected to run at the Atlantic Invitational Cross Country meet on Thursday at the Atlantic High School Course. The meet, normally held at Nishna Hills, will be held at the high school because the golf course is too wet. The meet starts at 4:00 p.m. with the varsity boys, followed by the varsity girls at 4:30. The JV boys run at 5:00 p.m., JV girls at 5:30, and middle school boys start at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Middle School girls at 6:05 p.m.
Atlantic Head Coach Dan Vargason says some quality teams will be at Thursday’s meet.
Vargason says he didn’t list plenty of teams.
Five of the top individual girl’s runners expected at the Atlantic Cross Country Meet include Lily Miller of Treynor, who recently won the Tri-Center Invitational in 18:52.11; Julia Heslink of Harlan, who has consistently posted times in the 19-minute range; Ashlyn Rau of Harlan, another consistent front-runner who recently ran 19:41.1; Madalyn Kerkmann of Treynor, who finished fourth at Tri-Center in 20:01.61; and Taylor Heithoff of Kuemper Catholic, who was fifth at Tri-Center in 20:01.63. Miller currently has the fastest recent time among runners from the schools competing at Atlantic. The strongest returning girls runners for Lincoln Pius X in 2026 include Malia Woosley, who posted a 19:10 personal best in 2025 and is projected as the No. 1 runner on Pius X’s 2026 Class B virtual team. Other top returning runners include Klaira Sander with a 19:51 best, Emily Sroczynski at 20:08, Emma Oliver at 20:09, and Nora Ivanov at 20:59.
On the boys side watch for Five of the top boys runners expected at the Atlantic Cross Country Meet include Haven Weers of Tri-Center, who has won both the Tri-Center and Glenwood invitationals; Jeffrey Gross of Harlan, who ran a school-record 16:13.24 at Tri-Center; Emmanuel Grass of Red Oak, who has wins at Creston and a second-place finish at Glenwood; Aiden Gaul of St. Albert, who finished third at Tri-Center and recently won at Nodaway Valley; and Owen Fenner of Riverside, who opened the season with a win at Glenwood and followed with another victory at Ogden. Atlantic’s Mason Betts is among those just outside the projected top five. Sam Schlautman, Joe Norman, and Henry Vrooman are returning members of the Lincoln Pius X boys cross-country team. All three competed for the Pius X team at the 2025 state meet and qualified for the national championships.
