The Minnewaska Area cross-country schedule opened up the season by racing at the Morris Invitational last Tuesday at the Pomme de Terre Golf Course in Morris.

Lauryn Ankeny led the Laker girls to a team title by placing second in the girls’ race with a time of 21:17, while Maeson Tank was also second in the boys’ race with a time of 17:56 to help Minnewaska Area place fourth of the 10 full teams.

The Lakers were also set to run at the Lac qui Parle Invitational, Thursday, and a recap of that meet will be highlighted in next week’s paper.  The next meet on the schedule is the Milbank Invitational, set for Saturday, Sept. 10.

at Morris Invitational

The Lakers won the girls’ title at the Morris Invitational with five Minnewaska runners placing among the top-20 individually.

Hailey Werk, of Morris-CA, won the girls’ title with a time of 21:01, but Lauryn Ankeny was second overall with a time of 21:17 to lead the Lakers.

Kierra Wilmes was next for the Lakers in seventh place (22:38), followed by Elsey Hagen in ninth (23:04), Piper CItrowske in 11th (23:21), Teagan Stark in 19th (24:10), Aubrey Stark in 27th (25:17), and Izzy Bautista in 34th (26:45).

•  Maeson Tank led the Laker boys to a fourth-place finish out of 10 complete teams.  Lac qui Parle won the meet with 62 points, followed by NLS (73), Osakis (107) and Minnewaska (129) in the top-four.

Tank had a time of 17:56 to finish two seconds off the winning time of Jack Barney of NLS (17:54).

Nick Ankeny was next in 19th (19:38), followed by Zach Palmer (20:05), Ian Mills (21:29), Jace Kovarik (21:50), James Ward (22:30), and Carter Dinsmore (23:08).

LQP had runners placed 4th, 6th, 13th, 18th, 21st and 24th on the way to winning the team title.

•  In the 7th grade boys 2K run, Owen Greene, of Minnewaska, was third and Ryan Tank was fifth (times not listed), while in the girls 7th grade race, Sydney Ankeny was fifth of 22 runners with a time of 11:39.

Minnewaska did not have any runners in the boys 8th grade race, but Emma Koehntop was 12th in the girls 8th grade 2K race (times not listed).

•  This year’s Minnewaska Area boys cross-country roster includes seniors James Ward, Jaden Anderson and Nick Ankeny; juniors Jayce Kovarik and Maeson Tank; sophomores Ryan Koehntop, Ian Mills, Zachary Palmer and Chase Wacker; ninth-graders Carter Dinsmore and Caden Manderschied; and seventh-graders Owen Greene and Rylan Tank.

The girls cross-country roster for 2022 includes seniors Elsey Hagen, Molly Hjelm and Kiearra Wilmes; juniors Isabelle Bautista and Teagan Stark; sophomores Alannah Christensen and Autumn Hess; ninth-graders Lauryn Ankeny, Piper Citrowske Lee and Aubrey Stark; eighth-grader Emma Koehntop; and seventh-grader Sydney Ankeny.

at Morris Invitational

Girls varsity team results:  (1) Minnewaska 33  (2) Melrose Area 64  (3) LQP Valley 67  (4) NLS 82  (5) Brecken-Wahp 102

Girls top five:  (1) Hailey Werk, Morris 21:01  (2) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 21:17  (3) Madi Wendlandt, Pay-BBE 21:26  (4) Peyton Dahl, NLS 21:31  (5) Julia Schmidt, BW 22:01

Minnewaska Area times:   (2) Lauryn Ankeny 21:17  (7)  Kierra Wilmes 22:38  (9) Elsey Hagen 23:04  (11) Piper Citrowske 23:21  (19) Teagan Stark 24:10  (27) Aubrey Stark 25:17  (34) Izzy Bautista 26:45 . . . JV runners-(36) Alexx Carlson 27:16  (38) Autumn Hess 28:07  (42) Alannah Christensen 29:03 

Boys varsity team results:  (1) LQP Valley 62  (2) NLS 73  (3) Osakis 107  (4) Minnewaska 129  (5) Melrose 142  (6) Morris Area 150  (7) Brecken-Wahp 161  (8) Benson-KMS 174  (9) Border West 178  (10) Paynesville-BBE 179

Boys top five:  (1) Jack Barney, NLS 17:54  (2) Maeson Tank, Min 17:56  (3) Zachery Bruder, Osakis 18:13  (4) Gavin Carl, LQP 18:20  (5) Joe Arens, BW 18:31

Minnewaska Area times:   (2) Maeson Tank 17:56  (19) Nick Ankeny 19:38  (23) Zach Palmer 20:05  (40) Ian Mills 21:29  (45) Jace Kovarik 21:50  (52) James Ward 22:30  (58) Carter Dinsmore 23:08   . . . JV runners-(66) Caden Manderscheid 24:08  (68) Chase Wacker, Min 24:25  (70) Jaden Anderson, Min 25:24