The Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ cross country team competed in Austin Tuesday afternoon.

It was another solid performance for both sides, as the boys’ team came in third place out of five teams and Autumn Muilenburg finished in sixth place on the girls’ side.

Muilenburg finished with a time of 20:25, putting her five seconds outside of a third place finish. Jaiden Venem came in 28th place for the Tigers. She finished with a time of 22:50 and Abigail Thompson came in 37th place with a time of 23:44.

For the boys’ team, Carson Goodell found himself back near the top of the leaderboard. He finished in sixth place with a time of 17:09. Leo Olveda ran another strong race, finishing inside the top 10 in eighth place with a time of 17:37. JV Moreno came in 13th place with a time of 17:52, with Grant Herfindahl crossed the finish line in 20th place and in a time of 18:21. Brandon Etherington took 24th with a time of 18:37 and Noah Wiese finished 27th with a time of 18:45. Joe Kreun rounded out the Albert Lea scores by coming in 34th place with a time of 19:05.

The progress the Tigers have been making during the course of the season has impressed coach Jim Haney.

“Our runners know that they need to be running their best times of the year, and they are,” Haney said. “I was very happy with both the boys and the girls who ran varsity for the first time. I believe they gathered valuable experience in this race and this will help them as they continue to compete.”

Up next for the Tigers is the Big Nine Conference meet. With the improvement his team has shown over the last month, Haney says his team is excited to compete.

“We are ready for the challenge,” said Haney. “The Big Nine meet is something we have been looking forward to all season. The team expects great things from themselves and they will do everything in their power to accomplish these goals.”

The Big Nine meet will take place Tuesday in Owatonna.

The boys will start at 4 p.m., and the girls are scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start.