Day had been dealing with a foot injury leading up to Thursday’s race, but for his second race in a row, Day pulled himself out before reaching the finish line.

“Kenny’s calves started to tighten up and (he) pulled himself off probably two-and-a-half miles in,” GC/G-R head coach Jackson Anderson said. “That was a judgment call on his part and I trust him. I trust his judgment. We knew that he was battling some of that. After taking a week off and then jumping back in and trying to go full force is to be expected.

“We are going to work on recovery this week and make sure that we have him healthy for the latter half of the season.”

At the point where Day pulled out of the race, GC/G-R was contending for a first-place finish between Class 1A No. 8 Denver and Class 2A No. 3 South Hardin.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE - East Marshall’s Joseph Terrones, right, races South Hardin’s Chase Harvey to the finish line on Thursday at the Spartan Invitational.

“Had Kenny been able to finish with where he was running,” Anderson said. “I was really excited about where we were running against South Hardin and Denver. If we would have had Kenny in there I think we would have a different outcome. Getting him back and healthy is going to be key but the guys ran well and they worked hard. That’s everything that I ask of them tonight.”

Leading GC/G-R was Sam Schildroth who ran a 17:03 to finish in sixth place.

“I talked to [Kenny] after the race and he said on [the last] hill when Paul [Brockett] and I were just passing them right there was when he felt he couldn’t do it anymore and he had to drop out of the race,” Schildroth said. “He said his foot felt fine before the race. I figured if he can’t run then better to take himself out of the race then risk hurting himself. It’s not that big of a meet.”

“Obviously, we can’t do it all without him. We’re just hoping that he can get better for conference and districts so that we can really compete and make a name for ourselves.”

Behind Schildroth was Paul Brockett who finished in seventh place with a time of 17:08. Ethan Sadler ran 17:43 to finish in 22nd place, respectively. Rounding out the Spartans’ top-5 was Soren Cleveland who ran 18:03 to finish in 31st place and Brennen Sager who finished in 42nd place with a time of 18:38.

T-R PHOTO BY ANDREW ABADIE

“It’s frustrating to know we were there and that we were on the heels of South Hardin and Denver, two really great teams,” Anderson said. “I think that is just going to make us hungry. It’s good to be in third place because I don’t want them to get comfortable and feel like they are sitting in a place closer to conference. I need them to stay competitive and keep working hard through the entire season and not let up the gas pedal at all.”

East Marshall’s fifth-place finish was led by Joseph Terrones and Hunter Hughlette who ran 17:30 and 17:33 to finish in 17th and 18th place, respectively.

BCLUW finished in sixth place and was led by Ruben Montoya who finished in fourth place with a time of 17:00.

GMG finished in 12th place with Cameron Spurlin leading the Wolverines with a 40th place finish in which he ran a time of 18:17.

North Tama had an incomplete team but was led by Sam Snyder who finished in 26th place with a time of 17:54.

Winning the meet was South Hardin which totaled 42 points.

Spartan Invitational

At Grundy Center

BOYS

Team Standings — 1. South Hardin 42, 2. Denver 65, 3. Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck 105, 4. Union 123, 5. East Marshall 137, 6. BCLUW 145, 7. Sumner-Fredericksburg 207, 8. Aplington-Parkersburg 212, 9. Alburnett 215, 10. Oelwein 250, 11. Dunkerton 304, 12. GMG 339, 13. Wapsie Valley.

Individual (top 10) — 1. Kolby Winter, SH, 16:10; 2. Lake LeBahn, U, 16:10; 3. Conlee Lyons, DEN, 16:59; 4. Ruben Montoya, BCLUW, 17:00; 5. Justin Meints, SH, 17:02; 6. Sam Schildroth, GC/G-R, 17:03; 7. Paul Brockett, GC/G-R, 17:08; 8. Alex Hassan, SH, 17:09; 9. Miguel Latas Chico, AP, 17:11; 10. Lane Hennings, U, 17:15.

GRUNDY CENTER/GLADBROOK-REINBECK (105) — 6. Schildroth 17:03, 7. Brockett 17:08, 22. Ethan Sadler 17:43, 31. Soren Cleveland 18:03, 42. Brennen Sager 18:38, Kenny Day DNF.

EAST MARSHALL (137) — 17. Joseph Terrones 17:30, 18. Hunter Hughlette 17:33, 32. Patrick Rayburn 18:04, 35 Korbin Seth 18:06, 39. Kordell Negrete 18:16, 41. Brock Curtis 18:35, 43. Holden Lane 18:43.

BCLUW (145) — 4. Montoya 17:00, 11. Henry Kaisand 17:16, 29. Treye Teske 17:58, 44. Alex Crompton 18:47, 62. Carter Kemp 19:38, 69. Dawson Kitzman 20:04, 77. Cayden McLeland 20:18

GMG (339) — 40. Cameron Spurlin 18:17, 72. Noah Teske 20:09, 73. Gabe Zielstorf 20:09, 82. Abe Dieleman 21:08, 84. Nick Collins 21:23, 85. Patrick Savatdy 21:55, 86. Jarret Hornberg 21:56.

NORTH TAMA — 26. Sam Snyder 17:54, 37. Logan Kennedy 18:12, 80. Paden Ketter, 20:32.