DAILY GLOBE
MINNEAPOLIS - The field was packed. It was difficult to make a move at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course on Saturday. But the scene was undeniably impressive.
The Worthington Trojans boys cross country team placed 29th. Not bad when you consider there were 60 teams competing in their classification, the “Maroon Race.”
“It’s almost like a football field wide,” WHS head coach Ken Henkels remarked regarding the starting line. “It’s a hard race to run real fast in unless you’re in the front.”
Several Trojans fared well, however, in the 5K race. Amanual Fissiha had the fastest time among the Trojans, coming in at 17:19 in 24th position. Matt Jirele was 33rd in 17:34. Anthony Luft, who got trapped in the pack and found it difficult to move up, finished 174th in 18:51. Troy Feller was 284th in 19:45 and Jacob Prunty was 298th in 19:48. Oliver Wolyniec was 319th in 20:02, Tyler Van Hove was 320th in 20:03 and Jonah McDonald was 477th in 21:30.
A total of 521 runners competed in the Maroon Race. Minneapolis Washburn placed first in Worthington’s class.
Henkels said the course was rather unique to Worthington’s experiences up to this point in the cross country season, with more rolling hills than what the Trojans had been used to.
“It’s harder to pass anyone, because there’s so many kids there,” he said.
Three former Trojans ran in the college portion of the event, which covered 8,000 meters. Ethan Spittle, running for Concordia-Moorhead, was 130th out of 300 entries in Division III, turning in a time of 30:05. O.J. Ojullu, with Southwest Minnesota State-Marshall, was 150th among 458 runners in Division II, finishing in 27:43. And former state high school champion Mubarik Musa of the University of South Dakota-Vermilion, was 66th out of 250 competitors in Division I with a 25:30 time.
Volleyball
St. James Tourney
ST. JAMES -The Worthington Trojans volleyball team placed fourth in the St. James Tournament.
In pool play, the Trojans beat Redwood Valley in their first match 2-0, with game scores of 25-22 and 25-17.
Their second match was against Wabasso, who won the match based on the fact they scored more points. Set scores were 25-23 and 17-25.
The final pool play match was against Madelia. The two teams finished in another split, but Worthington scored more points with set scores of 25-16 and 25-27.
The Trojans lost to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial in the championship bracket, 25-22 and 25-13. In the third-place match Worthington lost another close match to Wabasso, in three sets, 22-25, 25-21 and 15-13.
Betsy Thompson was 46-50 serving on the day, with 31 points and three aces. Becca Linder was 41-46, with 23 points and four aces, and Paige Gravenhof was 33-35 with 16 points and four aces.
Brooke Henning led the Trojans with 44 kills on the day, and Linder had 26.
Trojan setter Gravenhof had 67 set assists. Paige Kinley and Abbie Landgaard had 41 and 40 digs, respectively. Whitney Jensen finished with seven blocks for the Trojans.
The Trojans are now 7-9 overall, and head to Fairmont to take on the Cardinals today.
Sioux City East Tournament
SIOUX CITY-The Sheldon Orabs were 4-3 in tournament play Saturday in the Sioux City East Tournament.
Sioux City lost to Council Bluffs-Abraham Lincoln 1-2, with set scores of 21-16, 21-13 and 12-15. In their match against Sioux City Bishop Heelan, the Orabs lost 21-19 and 21-18.
The Orabs won their match against Sioux City, with set scores of 21-11 and 21-10. They also won their match against Council Bluffs- Lewis Central, 21-14 and 21-13. The Orabs won once again, this time against host Sioux City East, 21-69, 18-21 and 15-9. Against Hinton, the Orabs won 15-21, 25-23 and 15-13.
Senior Orab setter Allie Jongewaard had her last set assist as an Orab on Saturday. After diving for a ball during the last match, her wrist was stepped on by a teammate and broken. Jongewaard finished with 111 set assists Saturday.
Finishing with 62 kills on the day was outside hitter Jessica Van Beek. Kayla Johnson had 71 total digs for the Orabs. Outside hitter Mart Vogel had 12 serving aces throughout the tournament.
Blue Earth Tournament
BLUE EARTH-The Southwestern United Wildcats played in the Blue Earth tournament on Saturday.
SWU tied its first match against LeSueur-Henderson, with scores of 25-20 and 19-25. They then played host Blue Earth, and swept with scores of 25-11 and 25-12. Against Martin County West, SWU once again swept with scores of 25-19 and 25-21. The Wildcats swept again with scores of 25-10 and 25-20 against Minnesota Valley Lutheran.
To finish the tournament, the Wildcats took on New Richland-Heartlant-Ellendale-Geneva, and once again took both games with scores of 25-15 and 25-16.
Courtney Place led the Wildcats with 59 kills. Place was also 31-33 with two aces. Andrea Hinkeldey had 16 kills, and Kailey Wendland had 13.
Wildcat setter Haley Schumacher had 87 set assists.
Serving, Rachel Mathias was 54-56 with 11 aces. Autumn Hinkeldey was 44-48 with five aces, and Wendland was 21-26 with three aces.
Wendland also led SWU with with 62 digs, and Autumn Hinkeldey had 32.
SWU is now 13-4-1 and takes on Adrian at home on Tuesday.
College volleyball
Rochester 3, West 0
ROCHESTER - Christine ZKazemba had eight kills, but it wasn’t enough to pull the Minnesota West Lady Jays past Rochester in a college volleyball battle Saturday.
Rochester won in straight sets on scores of 25-23, 25-17 and 25-13.
Brittney Hermeling had three ace serves for the Jays and teammate Kristen Andersen had three blocks.
“It’s always a tough match against Rochester, and even tougher at their home,” said West head coach Marie Johnson. “The first two games, things were really clicking. … In game No. 3, I think we were a little bit tired and we were playing kind of slow.”
The match at Rochester came on the heels of a Friday matchup on the road against Western Tech in LaCrosse, Wis. In that one, Minnesota West won in straight sets, 25-23, 25-13 and 25-20.
Andersen had 10 kills against Western Tech while Hanna Bosma had five ace serves and Tiffany Gehl had two blocks.
