The Wildcats officially kicked off their cross country season this weekend.

They hosted the annual LH Invitational on Saturday, September 19th at Norbuck Park.

The event attracts many of the area’s top high school teams.

This year 25 teams registered for the race, which between the boys and girls teams, means a couple hundred runners laced up their shoes to run.

After making a name for himself in practice and running well in the Greenhill Relay, expectations were high for junior 'Cat runner Meron Fessahaie.

Expectations were met when Meron crossed the finish line in 1st place out of over 80 varsity runners.

Meron’s official time in the 5K (3.1 mile) race was 16:41.

“I ran well but was hoping to crack 16 minutes," says Meron. "The humidity and wet conditions were tough, so overall I’m pleased with the result.”

Strategy played a big part in his win after getting some advice from former Wildcat runner, Austin Roth, who is now running for The University of Texas.

Meron ran the first couple of miles of the race from behind before making his move on the dreaded hill, located on the south side of the course.

“Roth gave me a lot of great advice,” says Meron. “That huge hill kills people - they usually die off on it, so it was important to stay back and be in a position to pass on the hill. The course is basically downhill from there."

Head Coach Alonna Knott commented on Meron’s performance.

“He is dedicated and his heart is in it now," she says. "He has tremendous work ethic and is putting in about 60 miles a week. Obviously it paid off today. It’s a big win for him.”

While the girls didn’t win the event, several Lady Wildcat runners competed well and continued show improvement.

The girls finished 8th overall with senior Captain Michal Ann Starr and freshman Sarah Shaw leading the pack for the 'Cats. Michal Ann finished 27th (14:17) while Sarah finished 40th (14:35).

“We are a deep but young team,” says senior captain, Grace Devaney, who couldn’t race today because of a nagging hip injury. “We now have two freshman running on varsity after moving Natalie Morris."

Morris placed 79th with a time of 16:32.

Photo (bottom left) of Mary Margaret Johnson & Sarah Thomas; (bottom right) Lee Lueder of LH on the outside right.