Whitehall’s cross country team made a return trip to DeSales University last week for the District XI Class 3A Cross Country Championships on Oct. 22.

Habib Leyos was the Zephyrs’ top runner in the boys race, placing 67th (19:59.7).

Derek Berg was next to finish in 69th place (20:10.3), and Daniel Tran came in 72nd place (20:16.7).

Gabe Unangst (20:28.3), AJ Marakovits (20:55.3), Ben Charles (21:31.0), and Kihan Resto (22:04.6) also raced for the Zephyrs.

“[Habib and Daniel] definitely ran their best race, not in terms of time, but they looked like they ran it smart,” said Whitehall coach Brandon Hampton. “All of them ran hard. The boys were pushing. First mile kind of got them, but the girls ran awesome.”

Isabelle Daigle was the top runner for the Zephyr girls, taking 50th place (23:00.3).

“I really wanted to break 23:00. I got so close, but I have my senior season. I’m not done yet,” Daigle said.

“This race, I started out a lot harder, and this season, I’ve been getting better at pacing myself and keep going forward even when I’m so exhausted. The second mile, there’s this one part where there’s this ongoing hill, and it’s so tough, but it’s nice at the very end. There’s a drop. I was happy that I PRed (personal record), but I was kind of frustrated with myself that I didn’t get it.”

Marli Jacobus placed 56th (24:20.1), and Emma Druckenmiller placed 57th (24:46.5).

Holly Kotch (25:15.4), Janelle Kies (26:13.6), Felicity Coulthard (27:39.1), and Julia Elseify (27:49.8) also competed.

“They looked like they got stronger as the race went on,” said Coach Hampton. “Marli Jacobus, coming back from injury, ran really, really well. Janelle Kies kept saying all day, ‘Last one. Best one,’ and it was absolutely her best one. And Felicity, who has been battling injuries, ran awesome.”