The NW boys and girls cross country teams traveled this weekend to St. Paul, Minnesota to compete in one of the largest high school cross country meets in the nation.  It marked the 11th year in a row that the Cougars had been invited to Griak. Despite being without two of their top three varsity runners, NW still finished strong.

Coach Van Rose traveled with 6 boy runners and 2 girl runners.  The boys field consisted of 456 runners and the girls with 321. The weather was sunny with temperatures staying in the 70s.

Junior Aaron Thornburg led the pack for Cougars finishing 21st with a time of 16:41.  Freshman Kirk Bados trailed right behind placing 80th with a time of 17:20.

Out of the girls, senior Christine Nelson finished 28th with a 20:08 finish and sophomore Jessica Johnson placed 91st at 21:09.

The Cougars will journey down south this weekend to race in the Community America Invitational in Baldwin, KS.