St. Mary’s School hosted its first cross-country invitational Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The race was held in memory of former coach Wendy Linatoc, 50, who died in July.

Runners were invited from the regional Christian Fellowship Athletic Association league. Teams were St. Mary’s School, Unity Christian School, Berry Elementary and Middle School, Carman Elementary and Middle School, and Coble Elementary and Middle School.

More than 75 girls and boys in grades 5-8 raced on a two-mile course around the school. Top individual finishers in the girls race were Sarah Glick from Unity Christian with a time of 13:31, Mei Chin from Coble Elementary with a time of 13:52.09, and Laken Scott from Coble Elementary with a time of 13:52.41.  The winning girls team was Berry Elementary and Middle School and the St. Mary’s girls team finished second.

Top individual finishers in the boys race were Carlos Gonzalez from Coble Elementary with a time of 12:48.17, Mutsa Nyamuranga from St. Mary’s School with a time of 12:48.87, and Huston Bryant from Unity Christian with a time of 13:08.  The winning boys team was St. Mary’s School, with Berry Elementary and Middle and Unity Christian placing second and third, respectively.

“We were very excited to be able to host our first ever race this year, especially in memory of someone who was so special to our runners and to our entire school,” said Chase Babineaux, cross country coach at St. Mary’s School and race co-organizer. “It was a fun and meaningful learning experience. We hope to be able to make it a tradition. We would love to not only host this race again next year but grow it with even more participants.”