LES KNUTSON
Daily Globe
MARSHALL - Claiming the top five places in the varsity girls’ race, the host Marshall Tigers tallied a perfect score to win one team title and then utilized a trio of top-nine finishers in the boys’ race to earn a second victory Monday at their own 16-team high school cross country Invitational Meet at Independence Park.
While the Tigers were winning both team championships, Pipestone Area sophomore Michael Suda continued his strong early-season running by nabbing the individual boys’ title, running the 5,000-meter distance in a stellar time of 16:57.1, winning by 42 seconds.
Marshall’s Chase VanKeulen (17:39.3), Canby/Minneota’s Andy Wollum (17:43.0) and Springfield/Cedar Mountain’s Dylan Nachreiner (17:49.2) were the next three finishers.
Area boys placing among the first 20 runners in the field of 96 finishers, included Murray County Central/Fulda’s Clayton Hartle (sixth, 17:55.6), MCC/F’s Jack Erickson (10th, 18:22.5), Worthington’s Tyler VanHove (11, 18:34.8), Windom Area’s John Irwin (12, 18:36.6), Worthington’s Andrew Huber (13, 18:44.9), WA’s Isaac Taade (14, 18:50.2), Worthington’s Adam Koller (15, 18:50.7) and Jacob Prunty (16, 18:51.0), MCC/F’s Isaiah Olsem (17, 18:59.1) and Adrian’s Brady Henning (20, 19:04.4).
Marshall won the team title with 61 points, followed by Worthington’s tightly-packed second-place total of 80 (11-13-15-16-25).
“We again had our guys finish close together,” said Trojans’ head coach Ken Henkels. “But Marshall had three runners ahead of our first, which was really the difference.”
MCC/F was a solid third with a score of 90, followed by WA (121), S/CM (132), Redwood Valley (141), PA (148), C/M (182), Willmar Community Christian (216), Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (282) and Lakeview (296). Five others were incomplete.
Sophomore Nathan Schuck (25th team scoring) was Worthington’s fifth runner, clocked at 19:41.2. Cameron Jenson (34, 19:53.1) and Jackson Bonnett (37, 19:59.8) were the Trojans’ sixth and seventh runners, respectively.
Moore, Wallace, Martens go 6-7-8 to lead area girls
Marshall junior Claire Boersma ran away with the girls’ individual title (19:04.9), finishing 50 seconds ahead of teammate Jackie Turner (19:55.0).
Worthington senior Meredith Moore nearly broke up the Tigers’ perfect score, placing sixth with her time of 20:38.2, nine seconds behind Marshall’s fifth runner (20:29.8).
PA runners Livia Wallace (20:52.9) and Angel Martens (20:58.7) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, leading the Arrows.
Other area runners among the top 20 in a field of 89 finishers, included Adrian’s Moriah Bullerman (13th, 21:35.5) and T-M-B’s Sarita Hook (16, 22:19.6), while WA’s Christianna Green (21, 22:48.6) just missed.
Marshall’s 15 points easily was the best team score, followed by C/M (91), PA (115), Worthington (149), MCC/F (156), Redwood Valley (161), S/CM (176), T-M-B (177), WCC (196) and Adrian (197). Six girls’ teams were incomplete.
Helping Moore produce a fourth-place team finish for the Trojans were Jessica Darling (27th team scoring, 23:34.0), Khot Juac (28, 23:44.6), Maria Contreras (40, 25:35.4) and Rachel Koller (48, 27:14.1). Worthington’s sixth and seventh runners were Nyiel Mayola (49, 27:33.2) and Brianna Newman (52, 28:03.6).
“Our girls all ran pretty well,” summed up Henkels. “Getting fourth in the team standings at this meet is a good accomplishment. Having a real low number from Meredith sure helped.”
Next action for Worthington and 12 other area teams will be Thursday at the Prairie Golf Links for the 48th annual running of the Turkey Trot Invitational.
