FARIBUALT &045;&160;In its biggest test to date the Albert Lea cross country team responded with a solid performance at the Faribault Invite, but there is still room for improvement according to head coach Jim Haney.

&uot;I was encouraged by the performance of both the boys and girls teams, but not yet satisfied with the results,&uot; he said.

&uot;The team is improving as times increase and I look forward to upcoming meets to see the benefits of our training program.&uot;

While the Tigers finished 19th on the girls’ side and 18th for the boys it was still a very productive meet.

Alicia Reyes made her varsity debut for the Tigers and finished second among the Albert Lea runners in a time of 17:58.

Junior Mallory King led the way for AL finishing 96th with a time of 17:48.2.

Paige Seadlund finished in 19:07.1, Elizabeth Burnett had a time of 20:04.07 and Anna Keesling rounded out the top five in 20:18.0.

&uot;Alicia did a great job running in her first race, and handled herself just as I asked her to do ,&uot; said Haney of the freshman.

&uot;She has been a great addition to the team as she has made the runners around her better by the way she pushes herself.&uot;

Levi Budd led the way for the boys running to a 28th place finish with a time of 17:21.8.

Ethan Marquardt was 55th with a time of 18:00 and Josh Anderson rounded out the top three Tigers in 57th five seconds behind Marquardt.

&uot;Josh had a great race,&uot; said Haney.

&uot;He is putting together a great senior season.

&uot;He has been with the program since seventh grade and has been running varsity since that time.

It has

been great to see him continue to improve and reach his running goals.&uot;

David Hird and Steve Senholtz rounded out the Tigers’ top five with times of 19:24.8 and 19:46.4, respectively.

Stillwater won the boys team race while Apple Valley came out on top for the girls.