NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC senior Barrett Jesina pushes to the finish line at the Williamsburg Invite. Jesina finished in second place overall, with a personal-best time of 16:23.

WILLIAMSBURG — By this point in STC senior Barrett Jesina’s career, he’s pretty familiar with the Williamsburg cross country course. Often running in meets there twice a season, Jesina made his final trip to Williamsburg on Tuesday, Sept. 30, for the annual Williamsburg Invite. And like many times in the past, Jesina excelled.

Running an all-time personal best of 16:23, Jesina finished in second place overall.

“Going into the race I knew that I would have a lot of guys to race hard against. But I also felt like I had a good chance to P.R.,” Jesina said after the race. “I was happy with the P.R. and the finish — which was a higher place than I anticipated.”

It was a warm night for the runners but the familiarity of the course paid off for Jesina.

“It was hot, which made the race harder. But I really like the course and I know it well,” he said. Jesina now sets his sights on the post-season. The Trojans will compete at the annual WaMaC conference meet before Jesina will look to qualify for his third trip to the State Cross Country meet in Fort Dodge.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC junior Livia Smith (left) and sophomore Cahysia Kapayou (right) run out of the gate at the Williamsburg Invite.

In other boys action in Williamsburg, freshman Max Schirmer also ran an all-time personal best (19:19) to finish in 77th place for the Trojans. He was followed by sophomore Brady Jesina (84th, 19:49), senior Jovanie Perez (104th, 20:31), freshman Riley Stubbs (140th, 23:18), freshman Nolan Arp (144th, 23:42, personal best), and freshman Kyler Johnson (149th, 23:56). The boys team finished in 13th place out of 25 teams.

On the girls’ side, STC once again had three runners compete. They were led by sophomore Jayva Gomez, who finished with a season’s best time of 26:50 (130th place). She was followed by junior Livia Smith (29:07.4, 137th place), and sophomore Cahysia Kapayou (29:07.5, 138th place).

Up next for the Trojan cross country team is the annual WaMaC conference meet on Thursday, Oct. 16 in Marion. That will be followed by their District, State-Quaifying meet.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC sophomore Jayva Gomez runs at the Williamsburg Invite where she ran a season's best time of 26:50.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC sophomore Brady Jesina runs at the Williamsburg Invite.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – Trojan senior Jovanie Perez looks to pass fellow competitors at the Williamsburg Invite.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC freshman Riley Stubbs runs at the Williamsburg Invite.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC freshman Nolan Arp competes at the Williamsburg Invite.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC freshman Kyler Johnson runs at the Williamsburg Invite.