The Waterloo boys cross country team poses with its regional championship plaque on Saturday. Pictured, from left, are Coach Mattis, Cole Rodenberg, Will Zeisset, Lance Mueller, Noah Hayes, Blake Rusteberg, Joe Daab, Eli Dodd and Coach Huffman.

Local high school cross country runners competed in regional meets on Saturday morning, with some teams and individuals advancing to next weekend’s sectional competition.

The Waterloo High School boys cross country team coached by Larry Huffman put on a dominating performance in Saturday’s Class 2A Triad Regional, placing first overall. Lance Mueller won the race with a time of 16:10, followed by teammate Cole Rodenberg in second place at 16:15. Will Zeisset placed 12th with a time of 17:28. Waterloo will compete next Saturday in the Decatur Sectional.

In the girls cross country regional at Triad, Waterloo’s Whitney Liefer advanced as an individual with her 11th place finish (21:10).

In the Class 1A Freeburg Regional, the Columbia boys placed second behind a phenomenal team performance by the host team. Kristian Avise-Rouse placed third overall with a time of 16:55 for the Eagles. Teammate Jared Wicklein placed 13th with a time of 18:09. Dupo also advanced as a team to the sectional, led by a 14th place finish from Evan Schmidt.

In the girls cross country regional at Freeburg, Columbia’s Ashley Myers placed fourth with a time of 20:10 to help her team advance. Dupo’s Kailey Heusohn placed 10th with a time of 21:23 to pace her team as they also advanced to the sectional meet.

In the Class 1A Chester Regional, Valmeyer freshman runner Jake Krekel advanced to the sectional meet with a time of 18:48.