At the 2025 Marshfield Nightfall Classic, Menomonie High School Senior, Luke Ray, ran a 16:08 5K, qualifying for the All-American Standard. 

Luke started off the race in a close pack with 4 other Menomonie runners. His first mile time was 5:05. After the first mile, the pack spread out, with Luke leading. He finished off his second mile in 5:14. Luke finished strong with a faster final mile than his second mile, coming in at 4th place overall with a final mile time of 5:10. 

Luke’s negative splits are an important factor to his success. A negative split is when a mile is faster than the previous mile. This happened for Luke’s second and third mile, having a split differential of -4 seconds. 

The All-American Standard for cross country is an incredible achievement that is awarded to students who run a 5K in 16:15. Luke is the first boy in Menomonie High School history to meet this achievement.

Luke also achieved the All-American standard during track in the spring. While they are both big achievements, the standard is much harder to meet in cross country because the distance is longer than in track.

 “I decided to approach the race like I do my track races: continually increase effort as the race progresses. However, I made a conscious effort to not let my legs slow down during the race, and it worked,” said Luke. 

Luke’s race was also a personal record for him, improving his time by 27 seconds. He will continue his season with meets at Old Abe on October 11th, and then the BRC Championships in Rice Lake on October 18th.