The IMS harriers squared off against some tough competition at the IMS Invitational cross country meet held at the Wellman Golf Course on Monday.

The Maroon and Black finished fourth in the varsity boys competition. Kurt Beachy ran another strong race, taking fourth in the overall with a time of 17:26 over the rolling course and staying close with runners who should compete for State honors.

“Kurt didn’t win, but he ran a real solid race—he wasn’t real far behind the top three. Those top three that were ahead of them should be in the top-10 at State and Kurt will be right with them if he runs like he did today,” IMS coach Mark Hostetler said.

Regina edged out Williamsburg for the boys varsity title. Regina finished with 49 points to Williamsburg’s 65. Danville was third with 119 points.

IMS’s varsity boys finished fourth overall with 127 points. Individually, Ben Moore finished 20th overall, running 18:40. Jeff Miller was 29th with 19:06, Tristan Miller finished 31st with a time of 19:15, Austin Miller was 45th with 20:07, Jon Zasadny was 63rd with 20:54, and Justin Brokaw was 69th with 21:28. The good team performance placed IMS ahead of rival Aquinas, who finished seventh.

“I was really happy with our second through fifth runners. They ran very well today, a little better than that have run all year. I am looking forward to what they can do on the flatter course at home and at State,” Hostetler said.

The IMS varsity girls finished sixth in the team competition with 108 points. English Valleys won the meet with a score of 45 points. Clear Creek-Amana was close behind with 49 points and Solon took third with 53 points.

Mary Leichty lead the IMS girls with a sixth place finish and a time of 14:07 while Muska Ibrahimovic finished with a 22nd place 14:43. Natalie Marner took 35th with a time of 15:15, followed by Hannah Rumsey in 45th with 15:38. Kidron Brokaw took 56th with 16:12 and Erin Schrock was in 65th with 17:19.

“Mary ran an exceptional race to move up from where she was at,” Hostetler said. She was at about 10th place with about a half mile to go and she move up to sixth. Muska, Hannah, Natalie all ran well, and Kidron ran her best race as a freshman.”

In the boys junior varsity competition, IMS runner Jerry Etheredge won the race with a time of 21:18. Brian Rumsey came home third with 21:21 and Caleb Yoder was sixth overall with a time of 21:37.