New Hampton runners get off to a solid start

Nolan Usher and Olivia Burke had decidedly different answers when asked about their cross country training routine over the summer.
While Burke said she ran two to five miles every single day, even on those hot days, Usher’s answer was “I ran some.”
“I ran in 5Ks a lot of weekends and I worked outside,” he said.
Both had a nice medal around their neck after the Mason City Invitational, which opened the season for the cross country teams two days later than scheduled because of Tuesday’s weather.
Burke led her team to a 12th place finish among the 15 complete teams as she also placed 12th in the 115-runner field with a time of 21:05.
It beat her personal record, set late last season. “I’m excited because I set a PR in the first meet of the season,” she said. “And I’m excited to see what happens the rest of the season.”
One goal Burke set at the start of the campaign was to beat 21 minutes. “So I’m only five seconds away now. I also want to go back to state, hopefully me and Lydia.”
Lydia Gessner came in 34th in 22:33, a minute faster than her Mason City meet last year, while Mariah Darling was the third Chickasaw scorer in 78th place. She ran 2 1/2 minutes faster than the same meet in 2017.
“I think a lot of our runners PRd from the same meet last year,” said Burke. “That last big loop, that takes forever. That’s where you really have to push yourself.”
Usher started at a fast pace, at one early point he was in fourth place.
All of the New Hampton results may be found in the Sept. 4 Tribune.