The Ballard men's cross country team battled through adversity and a loaded field at the Raccoon River Conference Meet, finishing sixth overall with 171 points. The race, hosted by Bondurant-Farrar, featured four ranked teams including #1 Gilbert, #10 ADM, #14 Bondurant-Farrar, and #18 Carlisle as well as two others that had been ranked earlier in the season.

Austin Vance led the Bombers with a 22nd-place finish in 17:44.83, earning Second Team All-Conference honors.  Graden Hermann followed closely behind in 26th with a time of 17:56.19, while Parker Domino finished 35th in 18:20.10.  Isaac Swisher (43rd, 19:17.91) and Ethan Johnson (45th, 19:26.78) rounded out the team's scoring five, and Owen Davidson added a solid effort, finishing 50th in 19:58.00.

Head Coach Scott Barth praised his team's toughness in what he called one of the state's deepest conference meets.  "We entered the meet with four RRC schools in the rankings and two others who had been ranked at some point in the season, so much like the girls, running in the RRC is not for the weak," Barth said.  "We were once again short our typical #1 runner, Max Davidson, who gave it a shot coming off a shoulder injury but was unable to finish.  In as competitive a conference as we have, that limited how high we could move up in the standings."

Barth credited Austin Vance for stepping up as the team's lead runner, earning second team honors, and highlighted Graden Hermann's strong race coming off an ankle injury.  "Graden did bounce back from a sprained ankle and appears to be back to complete health," Barth noted. "Max, although he didn't finish, feels like he's inching closer and wanted to make sure he's as close to 100% as possible at the State Qualifying Meet."

Barth also pointed out the rise of Evan Newman, who ran well in the JV race and earned a varsity spot heading into the postseason.  "Evan could help us out as a wild card.  I think he has another gear that we'll try to reach next meet," Barth said. "We hope to work our way back to full health over the next few days and enter SQM on a high note to see what we can do."

The Bombers now turn their attention to the State Qualifying Meet on Wednesday, October 22, with the location to be determined.