The Minnewaska Area cross-country teams both finished fourth at the Paynesville Invitational last Tuesday at the Koronis Golf Course.

Rocori won both meets by wide margins, including winning the girls’ meet by 56 points over runner-up NLS (25-81) and the boys’ meet by 20 points over runner-up Sauk Centre (39-59).

Maeson Tank placed fourth overall for the Laker boys team with a time of 17:41, which was 1:23 off the winning time, while Lauryn Ankeny placed second for the girls with a time of 20:14, which was 27 seconds away from first.

The Lakers have two meets scheduled this week, including the Staples-Motley Invitational, Monday (today) and the Perham-Dent Invitational, Thursday.

at Paynesville Invitational

Lauryn Ankeny placed second and Maeson Tank was fourth for the Lakers at the Paynesville Cross-Country Invitational last Tuesday.

Ankeny ran a time of 20:14 to place second behind Rocori’s Elise Hofer (19:47), helping the Lakers place fourth of eight teams in the girls’ competition.

Rocori had runners place first, fourth and fifth on the way to 25 points to easily win the team title.  NLS was second with 81 points, EVW-Kimball was third with 87 and the Lakers were right behind in fourth with 89 points.

Next up for the Lakers, who were competing without one of their top runners, Kiearra Wilmes, was Elsey Hagen in 17th place (22:37), Piper Citrowske in 18th (22:39), Aubrey Stark in 25th (23:07), Sydney Ankeny in 27th (23:40), Teagan Stark in 28th (23:48) and Alexx Carlson in 50th place (27:11) out of 55 runners.

Maeson Tank had another great race to lead the Laker boys.  Rocori had the second-fastest runner on the way to winning the team title with 39 points, while Sauk Centre, which had the meet medalist in Brandon Kampsen (16:18), was second with 59 points, NLS was third with 102 and Minnewaska Area was fourth with 117 points out of nine full teams.

Tank finished fourth overall for the Lakers with a time of 17:41.  Nick Ankeny was next in 18th place with a time of 19:11, followed by Zach Palmer in 25th (19:54), Ian Mills in 31st (20:17), James Ward in 48th (21:30), Jayce Kovarik in 49th place (21:34) and Carter Dinsmore in 51st place (21:38) out of 62 total runners.

•  There were 42 girls who raced in the 5K JV race and Izzy Bautista placed 13th (25:51), Autumn Hess was 15th (26:11) and Molly Hjelm was 18th (26:58) in a race won by Rocori’s Evelyn Kaluza in 22:10.

Rocori had runners placed first through fourth on the way to winning the JV girls’ team title.

In the 64-runner boys JV race of 5,000 meters, Chase Wacker placed seventh (20:48), Jaden Anderson was 13th (21:22), Caden Manderschied was 43rd (23:10) and Ryan Koehntop placed 50th (23:45) in a race won by Harry Dunn, of Sauk Centre, in 19:30.

Sauk Centre easily won the boys’ JV team title by 20 points over NLS.

•  In the girls’ junior high race of 2,500 meters, Emma Koehntop (13:39) placed 14th for the Laker girls in a race won by St. Cloud Christian’s Mallory White in 11:32, while Owen Greene (11:11) placed 13th for the Laker boys in a race won by NLS’ Landon Eliason in 9:43.

at Paynesville Invite

Girls varsity team results:  (1) Rocori 25  (2) NLS 81  (3) EVW-Kimball 87  (4) Minnewaska Area 89  (5) Melrose Area 98  (6) Maple Lake 175  (7) Sauk Centre 188  (8) Paynesville 191

Girls top five:  (1) Elise Hofer, Rocori 19:47  (2) Lauryn Ankeny, Minnewaska 20:14  (3) Madison Wendlandt, Pay 20:24  (4) Izzy Kraemer, Rocori 21:21  (5) Laina Viere, Rocori 21:23

Minnewaska Area times:   (2) Lauryn Ankeny 20:14  (17) Elsey Hagen 22:37  (18) Piper Citrowske 22:39  (25) Aubrey Stark 23:07  (27) Sydney Ankeny 23:40  (28) Teagan Stark 23:48  (50) Alexx Carlson 27:11 . . . 55 total runners

Boys varsity team results:  (1) Rocori 39  (2) Sauk Centre 59  (3) NLS 102  94) Minnewaska 117  (5) Melrose Area 127  (6) EVW-Kimball 154  (7) St. Cloud Christian 162  (8) Paynesville 172  (9) Maple Lake 205

Boys top five:  (1) Brandon Kampsen, SC 16:18  (2) Vincent Kaluza, Rocori 17:02  (3) Henry Lemke, EVW 17:28  (4) Maeson Tank, Min 17:41  (5) Jacob Drevlow, SC 17:53

Minnewaska Area times:   (4) Maeson Tank 17:41  (18) Nick Ankeny 19:11  (25) Zach Palmer 19:54  (31) Ian Mills 20:17  (48) James Ward 21:30  (49) Jayce Kovarik 21:34  (51) Carter Dinsmore 21:38 . . . 62 total runners