By Chris Tabisz
The Twin Cities German Immersion School cross country team has won two conference championship titles since 2018: the first for seventh and eighth grade boys in 2019 and the second for fifth and sixth grade boys in 2021.
But during the fall 2022 cross country season, the Immers (Gavia immer or loons) surpassed all expectations.
The cross country season began at the Como Relays each Wednesday in August. These races tested the Immers’ ability to run in the heat and humidity.
At the first few conference meets in Lakeville and near Lake Nokomis, the fifth and sixth grade boys as well as the seventh and eighth grade boys finished first as a team, while the two girls divisions (fifth and sixth grade, and seventh and eighth grade) finished second and third.
Later, team performances in the girls’ divisions improved to first place at the Theodore Wirth Park and Battle Creek Regional Park meets.
Meanwhile, the Muddy Water XC Conference Championship Meet was held in Como Park on Oct. 14 with harriers running from nine schools during a cold and rainy day.
The Loons won the fifth and sixth grade girls race by one point, and the fifth and sixth grade boys zoomed to a team victory.
The seventh and eighth graders raced during an intense rain and sleet shower, but the cheering fans only became louder. Both girls and boys in the seventh and eighth grades triumphed over the competition and the weather. The TCGIS Loons are conference champions in all four conference divisions.
Adding to the Immers’ successful season, the fifth- and sixth- grade boys as well as the seventh- and eighth- grade boys teams are undefeated, finishing in first place as a team in each conference meet and invitational for the 2022 season, including Simley Invitational, Eagle Ridge Academy’s Invitational, and Mounds View’s Mustang Invitational.
Over the entire season, the Twin Cities German Immersion School’s boys beat 26 other middle schools.
The Immers have most recently competed in the 2022 USA Track-and-Field Minnesota Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Nov. 6 on the windy and hilly course at Gale Woods Farm. Thirty-nine harriers have qualified for the USATF JO XC Nationals in College Station, Texas, on Dec. 10.
Chis Tabisz is cross country coach at the Twin Cities German Immersion School.
