Kewaskum, WI – Gavin and Garrett Pickering (8th and 7th grade) are brothers and students at St. Lucas Lutheran School in Kewaskum, WI.
The boys have been running on the school cross country team since fifth grade.
This year, both brothers will be participating in the National Lutheran Cross Country Championship (presented by Concordia University) on October 23, 2021 at noon.
Gavin and Garrett qualified to run at the national-level meet when they each ran two miles in 11 minutes and 47 seconds at the Wisconsin State Cross Country Championship two weeks ago.
They finished in third and fourth place.
The Pcikering’s sister Alaina said it was cool to watch her brothers race. “I am proud of my brothers. It is always exciting to see what place they finish. It is fun to watch them.”
Students at St. Lucas are excited their friends have made it to a national championship.
The coach and mother of Gavin and Garrett, Laurie Pickering said, “It makes me very honored and proud to have two runners and have all their hard work pay off and get a chance to run at nationals.”
Matthias Yttri, another cross country runner, said, “They are always helpful, kind, fast, and always push you to do better when you practice.”
St. Lucas’ entire cross county team had a great year as everyone on the team set personal records. The team ran in three races and Gavin and Garrett made the top 6 finishes in all of them.
At the Pilgrim Lutheran Wildcat Invite the Pickering’s placed 2nd and 4th, at the Crusading Warrior CC Invite they took 4th and 6th, and at the Kettle Moraine Lutheran Invite they took 4th and 5th.
The brothers had a great year of running, with this season being Gavin’s last as an eighth grader, and Garrett having one more year to run for the ‘76ers.
If you watch either of them run, you would see they run with all they’ve got, all the time.
Photo courtesy Laurie Pickering