The Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ cross country teams ran in Austin Tuesday afternoon in their final meet before the Big Nine Conference.

The girls’ team continued its upward swing with its best meet of the season and the boys’ displayed strength in numbers by placing eight runners in the top 20.

Leading the way for the girls’  was seventh grader Shelby Evans. In her first varsity race, Evans came in 20th place with a time of 21:11.1. She was closely followed by sophomore Karime Ponciano, who came in 21st place with a time of 21:13.6.

“It was great to see how many of the girls dropped time from two weeks ago,” head coach Jim Haney said. “They are getting better each week and we look forward to a great Big Nine meet.”

Sonny Oretga-Roseli led the way for the boys’ team. Otrega-Roseli came in third place overall with a time of 16:42.7. Also finishing in the top 10 was freshman Gavin Hanke, coming in eighth place with a time of 17:14.9.

“Great effort by these young men and I look forward to see just how well they will do at the Big Nine meet,” Haney said.  “Our goal is to be third or better. We have a shot at this and it will not be easy, but that is just how we like it and we will work for the next week to make the improvements we need to achieve our team goal at the Big Nine meet.”

The Big Nine meet is scheduled for Tuesday in Owatonna. The section meet will be Oct. 24, also in Owatonna.