NEWTON — It’s been a strange fall this year for the STC cross country program. With rain saturating the courses, several meets have been cancelled — and the ones they have had, have presented some unique, muddy, challenges. Take Newton for example.

The Trojans traveled to Maytag Park in Newton on Tuesday, Sept. 22, for the Steve McDermott Invitational. The STC runners battled a wet, muddy course, which was quickly torn up by teams scrambling to get into the meet and to give their runners a chance to compete.

The Trojan boys were led by sophomore Max Schirmer, who finished in 24th place with a time of 19:20. He was followed by junior Henry Martinez-Alvarado (49th, 20:20); sophomore Kyler Johnson-Whitefish (60th, 20:44); sophomore Riley Stubbs (75th, 22:01); and sophomore Nolan Arp (76th, 22:11). The STC boys (284 points) finished in 12th place as a team. Cedar Rapids Xavier (31 points) won the meet.

The top finisher for the Trojan girls was 8th grader Adalyn Graff, who finished in 57th place with a time of 26:17. She was followed by 8th grader Piper Sawyer (66th, 28:16); senior Livia Smith (68th, 28:53); freshman Katelynne Brant (69th, 29:03); and 8th grader Anna Ahrens (70th, 29:07). Host Newton (72 points) won the girls side of the meet, with STC finishing in 11th place (330 points).

Head coach Edgar Tapia and the Trojans now enter the home-stretch of their schedule. They will travel to Eldora on Saturday, Oct. 3, for the South Hardin Invite. Following that, they will travel to Montezuma for the Montezuma Invite on Thursday, Oct. 8, which will represent their final meet of the regular season.