The Minnewaska Area cross-country teams had great seasons in 2023 as both teams were among the top entries in almost every meet they entered.

The girls team won the WCC title with the boys placing second.  At the Section 6A Meet, the girls were third, while the boys placed fourth out of 15 complete teams.

In addition, the Laker girls were second at the 11-team LPGE Invitational, second of 15 teams at the Melrose Invite and second of four teams at the Minnewaska Invitational, while the boys were second of nine teams at the Sauk Centre Invitational and third of eight teams at the Paynesville Meet.

Maeson Tank and Lauryn Ankeny were the leaders for their respective teams this year and both earned MVP honors on their respective teams.  

Tank placed first at the WCC Meet with a time of 16:54 and was also second at the Morris Invitational and third at three other competitions, while Ankeny placed first at the LPGE Invitational and WCC Meet, was second at the WDC Invitational and third at the Melrose Invitational.

Of course, the highlight of the season was Tank and Ankeny qualifying to the state meet where Tank closed out his high school career with a 35th place finish in the Class A Meet, while Ankeny placed 122nd in her third-straight state competition.

Just missing out on state berths this year were Nori Song, who placed ninth at the section meet for the Laker girls, and Zach Palmer, who was 18th for the boys team at the section meet.

At the state meet, Heritage Christian won the boys Class A team title, while St. Cloud Cathedral dominated the Class A girls meet.

•  Earning All-WCC for the cross-country program this fall were Lauryn Ankeny, Nori Song, Zach Palmer and Maeson Tank, while Jayce Kovarik and Jillian Deutsch were both honorable mention.

•  Seniors on this year’s  cross-country teams for the Lakers are Izzy Bautista, Teagan Stark, Jayce Kovarik and Maeson Tank, who also served as captains for this year’s team.

•  This is the seventh year of having cross-country back at Minnewaska Area.  This year’s girls cross-country roster included seventh-graders Nori Song, Jillian Deutsch and Ayden Svenning; eighth-grader Sydney Ankeny; ninth-grader Sophia Wallin; sophomores Lauryn Ankeny, Piper Citrowske-Lee and Aubrey Stark; juniors Alannah Christensen and Autumn Hess; and seniors Izzy Bautista and Teagan Stark, while the boys cross-country roster included eighth-grader Rylan Tank; sophomores Carter Dinsmore and Tate Wasiloski; juniors Luke Hoffmann, Ryan Koehntop, Ian Mills, Zach Palmer and Chase Wacker; and seniors Jayce Kovarik and Maeson Tank.

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!