MARSHALLTOWN — The Webster City cross country teams got the season off and running here on Thursday at the Marshalltown Early Bird.

The Lynx boys placed sixth overall. Aiden Wardell and Justin Callahan placed inside the Top-20.

Izzy Grossoehme led the WCHS girls with a Top-10 finish.

Host Marshalltown finished first, followed by North Polk, Pella Christian, Newton and Grundy Center. Preston Johnson from Marshalltown was the race winner in 15:25.

Wardell, a freshman, had a strong high school debut by finishing 17th in 19:15. Callahan, a senior, was right behind him in 18th with a time of 19:27.

“It was a good night of racing to kick off our 2025 season,” WCHS head coach Derek Turner said. “Both teams competed well on what turned out to be a pretty warm evening.

Aiden had a fantastic race, and Izzy did a great job leading the girls.”

Seniors Jack Barner and Gabe Thumma followed, as Barner placed 23rd in 19:48 and Thumma was 38th in 20:29.

Kaleb Draeger finished 44th in 20:46, Arlen Lake was 51st in 21:55 and Jordan Betts 52nd in 22:14.

Webster City finished eighth in the girls team standings. North Polk was first followed by Newton and Pella Christian.

Alexis Hergenreter of North Polk won the race in 20:02.

“A lot of our runners went out fast and emptied the tank a little sooner than we wanted to, which hurt us a little bit in the last mile or so,” Turner said. “We have a long season ahead and we have a great idea of what things we can do to continue to improve.”

Grossoehme, a junior, raced to ninth in 22:49 to pace the Lynx.

McKenna Buakham, a sophomore, was 41st in 27:03, with classmate Haedyn Soesbee finishing 45th in 28:32.

Megan VanDeer was right behind in 46th wiht a time of 29:24.

Marlene Saavedra finished 48th in 29:43, Julia Griep was 50th in 29:48 and Jessica Utera 52nd in 31:08.

For the Lynx junior varsity, Owen Anderson was 30th. Abby Peterson placed 32nd on the girls side.

Up next for Webster City will be its home invitational on Tuesday. Varsity starts at 5 p.m.