Lauryn Ankeny and Kiearra Wilmes led the Minnewaska Area girls cross-country team to the team title at the Minnewaska Invitational last Tuesday at the Glenwood Golf Course.  Ankeny placed fourth overall and Wilmes was fifth, helping the Lakers total 62 points, which was seven points better than runner-up Fergus Falls.

In the boys’ race, Fergus Falls and Redwood Valley tied for the title, but the Otters got the edge on the sixth-person tiebreaker (20th vs. 22nd).  Maeson Tank placed eighth overall and Nick Ankeny was 25th to lead the Lakers to a fourth-place finish.

This week, the Lakers were set to run in the WCC Meet at BOLD, Monday, Oct. 17.

Coming up is the Section 6A Boys and Girls Cross-County Meet, set for Friday, Oct. 28.  The State Meet is set for Saturday, Nov. 5 at St. Olaf College.

Minnewaska Meet

Minnewaska Area won the girls’ title and Fergus Falls edged Redwood Valley for the boys’ title during the Minnewaska Invitational last Tuesday.

Lauryn Ankeny placed fourth (20:37) and Kiearra Wilmes was fifth (20:53) to lead the Lakers to a team total of 62 points.  Fergus Falls was second with 69 points and Redwood Valley was third with 75 out of nine full teams.

Caroline Kuehne, of LPGE, won the girls’ title with a time of 19:30, while Addie Thomes, of Redwood Valley, was 33 seconds back in second place.

The Lakers had four runners place among the top 13 as Elsey Hagen was 12th (21:59) and Piper Citrowske 13th (22:01) out of 65 total runners.

Aubrey Stark was next for Minnewaska with a time of 23:32 to place 28th, followed by Sydney Ankeny in 3tth (24:15), Alexx Carlson in 50th (26:34), Izzy Bautista in 52nd (26:59), Teagan Stark in 57th (28:33) and Molly Hjelm in 61st place (29:06).

In the boys’ competition, Sauk Centre’s Brandon Kampsen won the title by 41 seconds with a time of 16:12, while Redwood Valley’s Will Ahrens was second (16:53).

Maeson Tank paced the Lakers with a time of 17:45 to place eighth out of 59 boys, while Nick Ankeny was 25th (19:09), Zach Palmer was 32nd (19:47) and Jayce Kovarik also got under 20 minutes with a time of 19:47 to place 33rd.

Also running for the Lakers were Ian Mills in 50th (20:25), James Ward in 50th (21:04), Carter Dinsmore in 52nd (21:28), Jaden Anderson in 53rd (21:44) and Chase Wacker in 57th place (22:19).

Fergus Falls and Redwood Valley tied for the title, but using the sixth-person tiebreaker, the Otters edged the Cardinals for the team title.  Sauk Centre was a close third (69) and Minnewaska Area was fourth with 137 points out of eight full teams.

•  Minnewaska Area did not have any girls running in the JV race of 5,000 meters, but in the boys’ race, which included 100 racers, Micah Mouser won the title with a time of 19:44, while Caden Manderschied was 73rd (24:31) Ryan Koehntop was 74th (24:34) for Minnewaska Area.

•  In the junior high races of 2,500 meters, Emma Koehntop was eighth of 22 racers for the Lakers in the girls’ race with a time of 12:33.  Lydia Uggerud, of Fergus Falls, had the top time of 10:17.

Meanwhile, Kadyn Zender, of Fergus Falls, won the boys’ junior high race with a time of 9:13, while Owen Greene was right behind for the Lakers with a time of 9:23 to place second and Rylan Tank was 16th (10:13) out of 43 runners.

Minnewaska Cross-Country Invitational

Girls varsity team results:  (1) Minnewaska Area 62  (2) Fergus Falls 69  (3) Redwood Valley 75  (4) Park Rapids 84  (5) Melrose Area 89  (6) West Central Area 130  (7) LPGE 174  (8) Sauk Centre 194  (9) Montevideo 285

Girls top five:  (1) Caroline Kuehne, LPGE 19:30  (2) Addie Thomes, RV 20:03  (3) Cassie Wellman, FF 20:14  (4) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 20:37  (5) Kiearra Wilmes, Min 20:53

Minnewaska Area times:   (4) Lauryn Ankeny 20:37  (5) Kiearra Wilmes 20:53  (12) Elsey Hagen 21:59  (13) Piper Citrowske 22:01  (28) Aubrey Stark 23:32  (35) Sydney Ankeny 24:15  (50) Alexx Carlson 26:34  (52) Izzy Bautista 26:59  (57) Teagan Stark 28:33  (61) Molly Hjelm 29:06 . . . 65 total runners

Boys varsity team results:  (1) Fergus Falls 45  (2) Redwood Valley 45  (3) Sauk Centre 69  (4) Minnewaska Area 137  (5) Montevideo 141  (6) Park Rapids 145  (7) Melrose Area 149  (8) WCA 183

Boys top five:  (1) Brandon Kampsen, SC 16:12  (2) Will Ahrens, RV 16:53  (3) Kilen Cilek, RV 17:05  (4) Henry Greenagel, FF 17:08  (5) Jacob Drevlow, SC 17:27

Minnewaska Area times:   (8) Maeson Tank 17:45  (25) Nick Ankeny 19:09  (32) Zach Palmer 19:47  (33) Jayce Kovarik 19:47  (40) Ian Mills 20:25  (50) James Ward 21:04  (52) Carter Dinsmore 21:28  (53) Jaden Anderson 21:44  (57) Chase Wacker 22:19 . . . 59 total runners