MLA boys/girls cross country run at Fairmont
Mountain Lake Area (MLA) boys and girls cross country runners ran at the annual Fairmont Early Bird Invite this morning (Friday, August 25) on a flat and fast course at Fairmont High School.
Participating teams, in addition to MLA and host Fairmont included Blue Earth, Heron Lake-Okabena, Jackson County Central, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet, LeSueur-Henderson, Medford, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, St. James, St. Peter, United South Central/Alden Conger and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.
The meet had a slightly different format than traditional cross country meets. This meet featured grade level races. Grades 9-12 ran separate grade level races of 4000 meters for both boys and girls, with the two genders running at the same time, and finishing in separate chutes. This same format was used for seventh and eighth grade, however the runners ran 1600 meters. Senior runners kicked off the meet, followed downward by grade level through seventh grade.
The MLA varsity boys placed third out of the 12 teams competing, with the girls claiming ninth of 12 teams.
Following are the grade level placings for the Wolverines:
+ Girls Varsity:
- Chloe Klassen, 12th place.
- Anika Fast, 11th.
- Summer Janzen, 8th.
- Aura Spry, 15th.
- Alina Inthamthirath, 15th.
- Elizabeth Linscheid, 19th.
- Jorja Lepp, 21st.
- Emma Stade, 18th.
+ Boys Varsity:
- Nathan Runck, 1st.
- Dalton Piotter, 5th.
- Josiah Gardiner, 8th.
- Emilio Garcia DelaCruz, 5th.
- Seth Klassen, 6th.
- Emmanuel Fentanez, 18th.
- Bubba Xayachak, 18th.
- Logan Pankonin, 20th.
- Dima Hanson, 25th.
- Paxton Morin, 25th.
- Daniel Gardiner, 20th.
+ Junior High Girls:
- Mercedes Saengosoth, 3rd.
- Tiegan Meyer, 7th.
- Kate Janzen, 7th.
- Jordan Wright, 10th.
- Olivia Klassen, 12th.
- Sierra Perkins, 15th.
- Riley Schroeder, 18th.
- Cyenna Hampel, 23rd.
- Isabella Louangthilath, 24th.
- Kaiya Sayavong, 27th.
+ Junior High Boys:
- Caden Swoboda, 7th.
- Drayton Klassen, 8th.
- Ben Bartsch, 10th.
- Landon Boldt, 12th.
- Thavien Xayachak, 14th.
- Luke Klassen, 15th.
- Ian Penner, 21st.
- Chad Suderman, 22nd.
- Andrew Rasavong, 27th.
- Aiden Penner, 29th.
- Landon Morin, 31st.
In an overview of the meet, Head Coach Kyle Blomgren noted that, “Nathan Runck’s time was the fastest time in all races. He looked strong pulling away from the field in the second loop of the 4000 meter course. Chloe Klassen also did a great job on the girls’ side. She ran with confidence and continued to get stronger throughout her race. I was pleased with the way most of kids competed today. The shorter distance allowed us to pick up our pace a bit and will help us ease into the 5000 meter race at next Wednesday’s Paul Metcalf Invitational. I’m looking forward to watching these kids progress!”
The Paul Metcalf Invitational will be held at the Mountain Lake Golf Course on Wednesday morning, August 30, beginning at 10 a.m.
Participating teams, in addition to host MLA, will be Adrian, Fairmont, Jackson County Central (JCC), Lake Crystal/Wellcome Memorial-Nicollet (LCWM-N), Luverne, Madelia-Truman-Granada/Huntley/East Chain (M-T-GHEC), Murray County Central (MCC), Martin County West (MCW), Heron Lake-Okabena (HL-O), United South Central-Alden/Conger (USC-AC) and Windom.
Joining Blomgren this year as an assistant coach is Laura Penner.
The race schedule will be as follows:
- 10 a.m. – Girls Varsity and Junior Varsity 5000-meter run (top seven runners finishing for each team count as varsity).
- 10:30 a.m. – Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity 5000-meter run (top seven runners finishing for each team count as varsity).
- 11:10 a.m. – Girls Junior High 1600-meter (unlimited entries).
- 11:25 – Boys Junior High 1600-meter (unlimited entries).
- 11:40 a.m. – Results and awards. (Team trophies for Champion Girls and Boys Varsity Teams. Varsity Girls and Boys medals for 1-15. Junior High Girls and Boys Ribbons for 1-15.)
- Times are approximate.
The MLA Wolverine Booster Club will be offering a limited-menu concession stand that will include hot dogs, fruit, bars, beverages etc.
Below is a rundown on the winning team(s) and champions from the Mountain Lake meet over the past 45 years:
