LES KNUTSON
Daily Globe
TRACY - Adrian eighth-grader Moriah Bullerman and Worthington senior Meredith Moore each ran the new varsity girls’ 5,000-meter distance under 21 minutes Thursday, earning the top two places in the 16-team Panther Invitational high school cross country meet.
With a total of 81 runners completing the course at the Tracy Country Club, Bullerman (20:51) and Moore (20:57) pulled away as the race progressed with Moore entering the finish chute 26 seconds before the third-place runner (from Redwood Valley) was timed at 21:23.
“Running under 21 minutes is really good for girls,” praised WHS head coach Ken Henkels. “It’s not an easy course either, but the weather was really nice and that helped.”
After Redwood Valley’s second runner finished fourth (21:25), Pipestone Area sophomore Angel Martens placed a close fifth (21:27), followed by Windom Area junior Christianna Green (sixth, 21:30) and PA junior Livia Wallace (eighth, 21:35).
Other area girls who finished among the top-25 included Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s Sarita Hook (14, 22:34), Southwest Christian’s Lydia Homandberg (17, 23:06), Mountain Lake Area’s Liana Blomberg (19, 23:16) and Murray County Central/Fulda runners Tuva Straume (22, 23:34) and Emily Kathman (23, 23:37).
Worthington sophomore Jessica Darling just missed, finishing 26th with her time of 23:42.
Canby/Minneota captured the girls’ team title with a low score of 65 points, while RV (84) edged Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s (90) for second.
PA was fourth with 111 points, followed by MCC/F (148), Springfield (151), Adrian (162), Worthington (165), WA (172) and MLA (224). T-M-B, BOLD, SWC, Lakeview, MACCRAY and Wabasso were each incomplete.
Finishing the course for the eighth-place Trojans, after Moore and Darling, were Maria Contreras (48, 25:41), Rachel Koller (60, 27:07), Brianna Newman (64, 27:16), Camila Wede (66, 27:25) and Christine McGrane (77, 30:05).
