When the 28th Annual Rugby Booster Club Invitational Cross Country Run wrapped up Oct. 1 at the Rugby Golf Course, Rugby Panthers Coach Bill Jansen said he felt happy with the results.

“It looked good,” Jansen said. “I know when I look at the results, I’m going to be really happy with the way we ran.”

Jansen talked as he supervised volunteer staff and Panthers team members who stayed busy packing up awnings and equipment from the event, which hosted 30 teams from as far away as Beach to the west and Hillsboro to the east.

The boys’ and girls’ 5,000-meter varsity events had nearly 150 participants in each race.

“From what I can see, after stopping the lead vehicle and getting out and watching a little bit, as I saw them finish, I think we ran pretty well today,” Jansen said.

“The weather was beautiful,” Jansen added as a light cool wind blew through the golf course.

“It was a little windy and a little cooler right away when we got here, but as the temperature went up,” he said, adding, “This is a running day. These are the days that the kids feel comfortable running and they don’t overheat. All of those things are positive.”

“It’s a good runners’ day. It’s not so great for the workers. They have to bundle up and everything, but that’s the way it goes,” he said.

Jansen said he wouldn’t be certain about the race’s outcome until he entered the official results in his computer.

“At our home meet, I never really know exactly what happened until I do the results and finish those,” Jansen said.

“But,” he added, “We had a lot of the top kids here, especially the girls.”

“And the boys – we had New Town here and we had Hillsboro here. I hadn’t really seen them before, so it will be really interesting to see the kids that were in the varsity boys’ race and see where we compare team-wise,” Jansen said.

“Austin had a really nice race. He was second,” he said, referring to Austin Dibble’s 17 minute, 27 second finish that helped land the Rugby varsity boys’ team in third place over 27 other teams.

“And Amelia on the girls’ side had a really nice race,” Jansen added. “She was third. The girls and boys I thought team-wise looked pretty darn good, from what I could see.”

Four Rugby girls placed in the top ten finishers for the varsity 5,000-meter event. Shepard, the top Panthers finisher, earned a time of 19 minutes, 57 seconds.

The Rugby girls’ varsity team placed first over squads from 26 other schools.

“I was surprised to get what I got here,” Shepard said of her third place finish behind Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis and Clark’s Brynn Hanson and Killdeer’s Addie Miller.

“The other years, they weren’t so good,” Shepard said of her finish times.

What made the difference this year?

“I’m pretty sure it was because my dad and grandma said I would get a cookie if I made it into the top five,” Shepard said, smiling. “And, I ate a lot before I ran. I didn’t even have a side ache this time.”

When asked how she thought things would work out for regionals and state, Shepard said, “I think they’re good.”

Shepard wore cat whiskers painted on her face. She said the girls’ team had decided to paint designs on their faces to add some fun to their race.

“I really like how I ran in today’s race,” Dibble said of his second-place finish. “I beat a runner who was ranked ahead of me. And I didn’t let any other runners ahead that were ranked below me.”

“I think staying consistent with my training worked out for me, along with nice conditions and nice weather,” he added.

Dibble said he had a simple strategy for staying in the lead and finishing at the top.

“I just worry about the person in front of me. I want to do good, so I think of the person in front of me, ‘Okay, I’ve got to get them,” and just keep moving on in the race,” he said.

Jansen said the Panthers would head to Cooperstown Bible Camp Oct. 6 to wrap up their regular season before regionals, which will take place Oct. 15 at the Cooperstown Country Club. The Panthers travel to Jamestown’s Parkhurst Recreation Area Oct. 21 for the North Dakota Class B State Meet.

Rugby results from the 28th Annual Rugby Booster Invitational were:

Varsity girls’ 5000-meters (first place team): Amelia Shepard, third place, 19:57; Brooklyn Bartsch, sixth place, 20:30; Hannah Senechal, ninth place, 20:51; Evyn Jacobson, 10th place, 20:59; Jaelyn Lunde, 22nd place, 21:40; Mauvlyn Kirchofner, 23rd place, 21:46; Kendyl Hager, 25th place, 21:54; Mya McNeff, 28th place, 22:01; Mikaylee Livedalen, 35th place, 22:16; Keyara Lundstrom, 43rd place, 22:41; Kathryn Kuntz, 52nd place, 23:25; Ashlyn Dibble, 55th place, 23:32; Sara Schmaltz, 62nd place, 23:43; Kinsey Arnston, 77th place, 24:57; Rylah Hager, 97th place, 27:16.

Varsity boys’ 5000-meters (third place team): Austin Dibble, second place, 17:27; Gunnar Larson, 16th place, 18:22; Jenner Johnson, 18th place, 18:32; Holdyn Jacobson, 22nd place, 18:40; Brayden Green, 35th place, 19:14; Andrew Duchscher, 36th place, 19:15; Austin Duchscher, 45th place, 19:28; Maddex Kirchofner, 64th place, 19:59; Wyatt Oppen, 79th place, 20:26.

Junior varsity girls’ 3000-meters (first place team): Jesse Wolf, fourth place, 13:41; Tressa Arnston, 12th place, 14:42; Ava Wurgler, 14th place, 14:49; Jaclyn Duchscher, 25th place, 16:25.

Junior varsity boys’ 3000-meters (third place team): Sawyer Brossart, ninth place, 12:40; Damien Herman, 10th place, 12:46; Dane Whorley, 15th place, 12:56; Liam Wurgler, 38th place, 14:32; Kallen Azure, 39th place, 14:38.