Grace Lidgett crosses the finish line at the Pine Lake Invitational on Sept. 2. Lidgett hopes to improve upon her breakout sophomore campaign this year where she placed 12th at the state meet in Fort Dodge. Photos by Darvin Graham

More than a dozen teams filled the Pine Lake Golf course near Eldora Thursday for the annual invitational cross country meet hosted by South Hardin.

The North Tama Redhawks return a solid roster from their 2020 squad including state qualifiers Grace Lidgett and Jules Breakenridge.

Both runners are among the top in their conference and are both coming off high school track and field seasons that wound up at the state meet in May.

Lidgett finished as a runner up at the Pine Like race last season and this year might have been a similar outcome had the squad from Jesup not attended.

Behind champion Addison Grady from Hudson, the J-Hawks took the next three places. Freshman Mackenzie Wilson broke onto the scene with a runner-up finish just ahead of her two teammates, 2020 state medalists Amanda Treptow and Clare Wright.

Jules Breakenridge of North Tama crosses the finish line at the Pine Lake Country Club in Eldora. Breakenridge came in 13th with a time of 22:31.

Lidgett finished fifth running a time of 21:34, despite shaving six seconds off her course time compared to last year. The junior comes in ranked eighth in the Class 1A preseason poll by the Iowa Track Coaches Association.

Breakenridge meanwhile brought in some points with a 13th place finish, running 22:31 behind a pack of runners from Gilbert and some top competition out of Dike-New Hartford, East Marshall and West Marshall.

New to the lineup this season are sophomores Jamie Jacobs and Larissa Morrison. Both were contributors to the North Tama track and field squad last year and added some depth to the girls’

Jacobs finished 48th with a time of 25:34 and Morrison 56th with a time of 26:25. Seniors Rachel Robison and Andi Dvorak North Tama roster with finishes of 33:03 and 33:56 respectively.

The Redhawks took ninth in the team standings with 200 team points. Gilbert took the top spot with 53 with Jesup right behind at 66.

Jamie Jacobs runs through the finish line at the Pine Lake Country Club in Eldora. She helped her team to a 9th place finish with a run of 25:34.

The North Tama boys squad was also in action at Pine Lake. Sophomore Christian Dronebarger finished with a time of 24:42 and freshman Nic Hinrichs came in with a time of 29:25. North Tama boys do not have enough runners to score team points.

The cross country teams will next head to La Porte City on Sept. 9 for an invitational hosted by Union. Teams scheduled to attend include Don Bosco Catholic, Dunkerton, Nashua-Plainfield, South Hardin, Tripoli, Union, Valley Lutheran and Vinton-Shellsburg.

Sophomore Larissa Morrison runs at the Pine Lake Invitational on Sept. 2. Morrison finished with a time of 26:25.

Senior Rachel Robinson is one of the returners to the Redhawks roster this year. She finished the South Hardin meet with a time of 33:03.

Andi Dvorak comes across the finish line at the Pine Lake Invitational in Eldora on Sept. 2. Dvorak finished with a time of 33:56.

Christian Dronebarger was the top boys finisher at the Pine Lake Invitational on Tuesday. The returning sophomore finished with a time of 24:42.

Nic Hinrichs runs his first high school cross country meet at the Pine Lake Country Club in Eldora. Hinrichs came across the finish line with a time of 29:25.