The NLS and Minnewaska Area girls were separated by only six points during the Sauk Centre Invitational last Tuesday.  

NLS had the top finisher on the way to winning the meet with 37 points, while the Lakers had racers finish 5-6-9-11-12 and 14 on the way totaling 43 points during one of the most-complete races for the Laker team this season.

The Minnewaska Area girls, who are still ranked fifth in state Class A, were led by Lauryn Ankeny in fifth and Maia Larson in sixth, while the Laker boys finished sixth out of 10 teams with Ian Mills (12th) and Zach Palmer (15th) continuing to lead the way for their team.

“I thought our team ran really well at Sauk Centre,” coach Jennifer Johnsrud said.  “The cooler temperatures make such a difference.  Most of our kids ran season bests.”

The Lakers have two meets scheduled this week, including the only meet at home, Tuesday (tomorrow) at the Minnewaska Golf Course.

Minnewaska Area is also set to race at Perham-Dent, Thursday, Oct. 10 before getting ready for the WCC and Section 6A competitions.

“Our athletes are continuing to improve each week and will hopefully be peaking at just the right time coming up on late-season meets,” coach Johnsrud said. 

Sauk Centre Invite

The Lakers competed in their seventh competition this fall at the Sauk Centre Invitational last Tuesday afternoon.

NLS edged Minnewaska Area for the team title (43-37) while the Lakers’ top two runners placed fifth and sixth overall out of 70 racers.

Lauryn Ankeny had a season-best time of 20:35 to place fifth overall, while teammate Maia Larson was right behind in sixth place with a time of 20:37.

The Lakers’ top six runners finished 38 seconds within each other.

Jillian Deutsch placed ninth with a time of 20:59, followed by Piper Citrowske-Lee in 11th (21:02), Nori Song in 12th (21:07) and Sydney Ankeny was 14th (21:13).

Winning the girls’ title was Kyla Vick, of NLS, with a time of 19:41; just eight seconds better than runner-up Izzy Kraemer of Rocori.

Also running for the Lakers were Sophia Wallin in 32nd (22:48), Aubrey Stark in 34th (22:53) and Ella Larson in 36th (22:58).

•  In the boys meet, won by Sauk Centre’s Jacob Drevlow with a time of 16:38, the host Sauk Centre Mainstreeters easily won the team title with 47 points, followed by Pequot Lakes in second (96), NLS in third (107) and the Lakers in sixth place (124 points) out of 10 full teams.

Drevlow edged his teammate by only one second with a racer from Pequot Lakes another second back in third.

Leading the way for the Lakers were Ian Mills in 12th place with one of his best time of the season (17:25) and Zach Palmer in 15th (18:17).

Luke Hoffmann continued his good season with a 22nd place finish in 18:44, while Deitrich Reidenbach was 36th (19:31), Carter Dinsmore was 39th (19:40) and Rylan Tank placed 45th (20:19) out of 70 runners.

•  In the girls JV meet, Grace Herfindahl placed 25th out of 31 runners for the Lakers with a time of 29:00.  Winning the JV girls title was Mady Woelfel, of NLS, in 23:12.

In the boys JV race, Chase Wacker placed 44th (23:47) and Tayte Wasilowski was 46th (24:08) out of 59 racers.  Winning the race was Sauk Centre senior Noah Borgerding in 18:41.

•  In the boys junior high race, won by Pequot Lakes seventh-grader Sam Savino in 9:36, Caden Hawkins placed eighth (10:11) and Ilo Hasskamp was 13th (10:37) out of 61 racers.  The Lakers did not have any runners in the junior high girls’ race won by Rocori’s Grace Reiter in 9:43.

at Sauk Centre Invite

Girls varsity team results:     (1) NLS 37  (2) Minnewaska Area 43  (3) Rocori 93  (4) Melrose Area 143  (5) Sauk Centre 152  (6) Pequot Lakes 162  (7) Alexandria Community Christian 181  (8) LPGE 213  (9) ACGC 226  (10) Osakis 231

Girls top five:  (1) Kyla Vick, NLS 19:41  (2) Izzy Kraemer, Rocori 19:49  (3) Kyra Rohrbach, PL 19:51  (4) Stella Moline, NLS 20:07  (5) Lauryn Ankeny, Min 20:35  (6) Maia Larson, Min 20:37

Minnewaska times:  (5) Lauryn Ankeny 20:35  (6) Maia Larson 20:37  (9) Jillian Deutsch 20:59  (11) Piper Citrowske-Lee 21:02  (12) Nori Song 21:07  (14) Sydney Ankeny 21:13  (32) Sophia Wallin 22:48  (34) Aubrey Stark 22:53  (36) Ella Larson 22:58. . . (70 total runners)

Boys varsity team results:     (1) Sauk Centre 47  (2) Pequot Lakes 96  (3) NLS 107  (4) Melrose Area 111  (5) Rocori 117, Minnewaska Area 124, Osakis 163, ACGC 197, Paynesville-BBE 216, LPGE 226

Boys top five:  (1) Jacob Drevlow, SC 16:38  (2) Logan Wiehoff, SC 16:39  (3) Liam Zins, PL 16:40  (4) Brody Sieben, Rocori 16:54  (5) Jack Skanson, Rocori 17:00

Minnewaska Area times:     (12) Ian Mills 17:25  (15) Zach Palmer 18:17  (22) Luke Hoffmann 18:44  (36) Dietrich Reidenbach 19:31  (39) Carter Dinsmore 19:40  (45) Rylan Tank 20:19 . . . (70 total runners)

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!