MILACA -- Adrian athletes Nicole Slater and Jordin Kopplow each had top-10 finishes Saturday among runners from complete teams in the Milaca Mega-Meet, one of the largest high school cross country meets in the United States.
Competing in the Class AA girls' division at the Milaca Golf Course, Adrian finished a close third in the team standings, among 20 complete squads with a score of 122 (9-10-14-17-72).
St. Cloud Cathedral won the team title with a low score of 107, while Esko was second with 117 points.
Canby/Minneota/Lincoln HI was fourth (135), followed in the top seven by Perham (146), Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd ((163) and Martin County West (193).
Redwood Valley was 10th with a score of 255, one point better than 11th-place Fairmont (256). Blue Earth Area was 20th with 601 points.
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Slater, a junior, finished 11th overall (ninth, team wise) with a time of 15:31.4 over the 4,000-meter course.
Kopplow, a senior, entered the chute next (12, 10, 15:37.2) and classmate Megan Sauer (16, 14, 15:39.4) was close behind.
Sophomore Morgan Sauer (21, 17, 15:50.9) was Adrian's fourth finisher, while seventh-graders Anna Serrao (84, 72, 17:10.8) and Hannah Bullerman (123, 106, 18:25.2) also ran for the Dragons.
McKenzie Holt, a junior from St. Cloud Christian, won the race by more than 33 seconds with an amazing time of 14:12.6.
Redwood Valley sophomore Kayla Huhnerkoch was an impressive fifth overall with a time of 15:05.9, leading all runners from Section 3A.
C/M/LH's Leah Jessen, a junior, finished 10th overall (eighth, team) with a time of 15:30.4 and MCW freshmen Whitney Smith (13, 12, 15:38.5) and Morgan Larson (17, 15, 15:40.8) also placed in the upper 10 percent of the 167-finisher field.
Kemper, Recker run for AHS boys
Two Adrian sophomores -- Collin Kemper (18:48.7) and Taylor Recker (18:49.1) -- bettered the 19-minute mark for 5,000 meters in the Class A boys' meet, finishing 70th and 71st, respectively among a total of 181 runners.
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St. James' senior Johnathan Surber, who won Worthington's Turkey Trot on Sept. 13, placed third overall in the Class A boys' race at Milaca with a time of 16:37.7, leading the Saints to a sixth-place team finish (226 points) among 25 complete squads.
Pelican Rapids won the team title with a low score of 129, paced by senior Cody Bekkerus who won the individual race with a time of 16:24.8.
