PREP GIRLS' CROSS COUNTRY: Hohn, Bezdicek finish 1-2 at CC meet

JACKSON — While Blue Earth Area edged Martin County West, 40-46, for the girls’ team title of the KKOJ/KRAQ Subway Invitational high school cross country meet Thursday afternoon at the Loon Lake Golf Course, the individual first-place finisher was Luverne sophomore Makayla Hohn.

Running side-by-side with Jackson County Central eighth-grader Jadin Bezdicek for the first mile of the 4,000-meter race, Hohn opened up a slight lead as the second mile progressed and then pulled steadily away with a strong closing final 800 meters.

Hohn was clocked at a personal best time of 14 minutes, 58 seconds as she broke 15:00 for the first time.

“Makayla ran a very good race and was happy with her time,” declared LHS head coach Pete Janiszeski. “This should be a nice confidence booster for her.”

Bezdicek has been impressive in several meets this fall — including a recent third-place finish at the Worthington Turkey Trot (Sept. 15) — and was so again on her home course, running a solid second-place time of 15:17, entering the chute eight seconds ahead of MCW eighth-grader Morgan Larson (15:25).

Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin freshman Lydia Hildebrandt (15:35) finished fourth and led the Wolverines to third place in the team standings with 62 points.

Windom senior Meridith Hentges (15:51) was seventh, leading the Eagles (91) to a fourth-place team finish.

Worthington received nice team balance and was fifth with 106 points, followed by Springfield/Cedar Mountain/Comfrey (164).

Luverne, JCC, Martin Luther and Hills-Beaver Creek were each incomplete.

Luverne sophomore Anna Tofteland (16:14), ML/B-O sophomore Stacey Harder (16:16) Windom senior Kylie Willard (16:28), H-BC freshman Jenna Wilgenburg (16:29) and ML/B-O freshman Brianna Soutthivong (16:29) finished in overall places 12-16, respectively.

Leading Worthington were the duo of freshman Alecia Darling and eighth-grader Meredith Moore, who entered the chute with identical times of 16:37 in 18th and 19th place, respectively.

Steady-running Stephanie Jaycox, who was bothered by an ailing knee, was the third Trojan to finish, placing 25th with a time of 17:03.

“Those three pretty much ran together again and did real well,” praised Worthington head coach Ken Henkels. “We also had very nice runs from Jenny Majerus, Ariana Lopez and Kinzie Myrom, who each ran their personal best times.”

Majerus ran the course in 18:51, finishing 35th, while Lopez (36th, 19:05) and Myrom (39th, 19:15) were also well under 20 minutes.

Luverne runners Madison Schandelmeier (5:50) and Madi Oye (6:00) finished 1-2 in the 1,600-meter junior high race, followed by ML/B-O’s Liana Blomgren (6:02) and Luverne’s Mariah Aukes (6:05), as the Cardinals took three of the top four places.

Tags: cross country, jackson county central, mountain lake/butterfield-odin, hills-beaver creek, sports, prep, windom, worthington, luverne, trojans