Elizabeth Kettler

The start gun sounded for the first time this cross country season and runners were off looking to start the season strong and one area runner was able to accomplish a strong start to the season in a big way for herself and her team.

Hiawatha Red Hawk sophomore, Elizabeth Kettler raced her way to the top in just the first competition of the season posting the winning time of 20:57.94 at the Jeff West Invitational. Kettler dominated the competition which featured 71 runners as she won by over two minutes.

Kettler’s top performance partnered with an eighth, tenth, 13th and 17th place totaled the 34 points on the day for the Hiawatha girls which led them to a team first place finish at the Jeff West Invitational by 13 points.

Coming off a strong freshman year in which she placed fifth at State in Class 3A and the lady Red Hawks took second as a team and she won the 3200 meter run at State track in 3A, while finishing eighth in the 1600 meter and seventh as part of the 4x800 meter relay, Kettler has started her sophomore campaign on the right foot with the win at the Jeff West Invitational.

The sophomore looks to build upon her strong start and put together another strong running season as a Red Hawk.