Les Knutson
Daily Globe
MARSHALL -- Paced by the extraordinary performance of senior Claire Boersma, along with snagging the next four places, Marshall’s girls notched a perfect score (1-2-3-4-5) Monday at Independence Park, winning the 17-team Marshall Invitational high school cross country meet with a perfect score of 15.
The Marshall boys made it a sweep by winning a close three-team chase by 10 points. The Tigers (5-6-9-18-21) had the low score with 59 points, while Waconia (4-12-14-15-24) edged Windom Area (2-10-11-23-29) by six points, 69-75, for second.
Boersma, Minnesota’s top-ranked Class AA girl, ran a blistering time of 18:33.2 over the 5,000-meter course as she finished 49 seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Kaia Sueker (19:22.4), while freshman Natalee Sample (19:24.4) and the junior tandem of Morgan Radel (19:37.7) and Alison Mortier (19:54.3) completed Marshall’s perfect score.
Murray County Central/Fulda eighth-grader Morgan Gehl followed the five Tigers into the chute with a stellar sixth-place time of 19:58.3.
In the boys’ race, Central Minnesota Christian senior Matthew Van Eps won his third consecutive individual title, outracing Windom senior John Irwin and Redwood Valley senior Carter Menz in a very close race up front. Van Eps ran the course in 16:42.7, while Irwin was timed at 16:43.3 and Menz at 16:48.1.
A Waconia runner finished fourth (16:57.5), followed by Marshall senior Matt Dunn (16:59.7).
Area boys who finished among the first 25 runners were Pipestone Area junior Michael Suda (eighth, 17:10.9), Windom seniors Nickolas Green (10th, 17:18.8) and Isaac Tade (11, 17:30.9), MCC/Fulda freshman Justin Clarke (13, 17:36.3), Worthington freshman Adam Koller (17, 17:52.2), Adrian junior Brady Henning (19, 17:53.7), PA senior Matthew Kennedy (21, 17:54.9), MCC/Fulda senior Isaiah Olsem (22, 17:56.5), Worthington sophomore Andrew Huber (24, 18:08.6) and Windom eighth-grader Cameron Alm (25, 18:09.3).
In the boys’ team standings, MCC/Fulda (13-20-32-39-40) edged Worthington (17-22-34-35-41) for fourth by five points, 144-149. PA (161), RV (167), C/M (176), Springfield/Cedar Mountain (240), CMC (247) and Lakeview (311) completed the list of complete teams. Adrian, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, Wabasso and Yellow Medicine East were each incomplete.
Area girls finishing in the top 25, after Gehl, included PA senior Livia Wallace (ninth, 20:25.7), Windom senior Christianna Green (10th, 20:29.3), Worthington freshman Sena Uli (12, 20:31.6), Adrian freshman Moriah Bullerman (14, 20:48.6), Windom eighth-grader Gracie Bucher (17, 21:08.9) and T-M-B freshman Brooke Christian (22, 21:29.6).
Following Marshall in the team scoring was Waconia with 73 points, followed by C/M (93), MCC/Fulda (146), Windom (154) and T-M-B (165). Worthington was seventh with 192 points, followed by Adrian (198), RV (226), Wabasso (263) and Hendricks (287). PA, Lakeview, YME, CMC, Southwest Christian/Edgerton and S/CM were all incomplete.
Trojans have balanced performance in each race
Following the strong lead run of Uli, the next six WHS girls were junior Jessica Darling (38th team scoring, 23:06.1), the eighth-grade trio of Maranda Thier (39, 23:15.8), Liz Spiegelhoff (46, 24:33.4) and Brynne White (58, 26:08.8), senior Camila Wede (59, 26:14.1) and junior Brianna Newman (60, 26:20.9).
“Our girls did a nice job,” said first-year WHS head coach Cory Smidt. “Sena had a great run up front and the rest of our pack stayed pretty close together, allowing us to come through with a good team score.”
After Koller and Huber paced the Trojan boys, the next five finishers were junior Jackson Bonnett (34th team placing, 18:38.4), eighth-grader Christian Lietz (35, 18:48.1), junior Jacob Prunty (41, 19:00.0), sophomore Blaine Doeden (45, 19:12.0) and sophomore Tad Stewart (49, 19:35.1).
The Trojans host the 49th Annual Turkey Trot, featuring 13 teams, at Prairie View Golf Links Thursday.
