Exeter cross country turned in a strong showing at the Choate Invitational, with Big Red runners leading the way across the veterans' and novice races. The meet served as a scrimmage, with no team scores kept.

In the boys veterans' race, Exeter swept the top four spots. Upper Bo Howland-Vlahakis crossed the line first, followed by Drew Sharron, Spencer Clemans, who celebrated his birthday with a strong performance, and Will Miller. James Travis and Ved Reddy rounded out Exeter's top six, showing significant improvement from a year ago.

The girls were equally impressive at the front of the veterans' race. Harper Peters captured first place while setting a new course record, and classmate Norah Pratt moved up throughout the race to secure second. Brady Preneta, Alice Rourke and Lia Blitz added strong finishes, placing eighth, ninth and 11th, respectively.

Exeter's newcomers also made their mark in the novice race. Otis Aley steadily worked his way through the field to finish a close second, while Gus Rogers and Max Liuwu followed with strong performances. The novice girls raced alongside the boys, with Stella Gray, Lakhi Baumgart and Abby Lim finishing as the top three girls in the field.

Big Red will return to the course next Saturday at the annual Black Bear Invitational, hosted by Coe-Brown Northwood Academy.