HOME, SWEET HOME — Fairmont runner Macy Hanson breaks away from the girls field during the I-90 cross country invitational at Cedar Park in Fairmont on Thursday. Hanson went on to win the girls’ championship. (Photo by Greg Abel)
FAIRMONT — Fairmont’s Macy Hanson repeated as I-90 Invite girls cross country champion, running the course in a time of 19:15.8, while Fairmont’s boys team was second overall on Thursday at Cedar Park in Fairmont.
“I felt comfortable out on the course today,” said Hanson, who won last year’s race in 19:02.4. “I had fun today and didn’t put pressure on myself.”
In the boys race, Class AA No. 2-ranked Belle Plaine won the meet with 32 points, followed by Fairmont with 92, Worthington with 95, St. James Area with 115, St. Peter with 134, Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther with 139, Jackson County Central with 161, Heron Lake-Okabena with 237, North Union and Blue Earth Area — each with 252.
“The boys ran well and had a good day,” Fairmont co-head coach Stew Murfield said. “We beat Worthington, one of our main competitors in the section meet, so that is good. I saw some pack running from our guys in this meet.”
Worthington’s Fanuel Wolday, ranked No. 6 in Class AA, won the boys race with a time of 16:01.4, which was 30 seconds ahead of Martin County West’s Ryan Pierson, ranked No. 2 in Class A, who had a time of 16:31.4.
Belle Plaine’s Austin Kehr was right on Pierson’s heels. He placed third with a time of 16:31.9.
Fairmont’s scorers were Gavin Artner, 8th with a time of 17:09.5; Brier Lenort, 19th with a time of 17:59.5; Jaydon Putney, 22nd with a time of 18:07.1; Cooper Gudahl, 23rd with a time of 18:15.7; and Will Niestrath, 30th with a time of 18:42.6.
Fairmont’s other runners in the meet were Andrew Haugen, Braydon Lindsay, Isaac Stone, Landon Weber, Ben Moeller, Sebastian Castro, Landen Pederson, Matthew Senneff and Eli Winter.
Haugen finished 37th with a time of 18:55.4; Lindsay was 38th with a time of 19:02.7; Stone placed 39th with a time of 19:23.0; Weber finished 41st with a time of 19:24.1; Moeller was 47th with a time of 20:03.4; Castro placed 74th with a time of 21:58.5; Pederson was 87th with a time of 22:58.9; Senneff was 99th with a time of 22:54.6; and Winter finished 110th with a time of 25:05.2.
For Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther, Josiah DeMaris placed 7th with a time of 17:03.1.
His teammates who also scored points in the meet were Carson Meraz, 29th with a time of 18:36.0; Kaydon Firchau, 33rd with a time of 18:50.8; Dalton Tatro, 44th with a time of 19:51.1; and Eddie Ramirez, 53rd with a time of 20:14.0.
Caleb Decann also competed, taking 55th with a time of 20:20.7. Caden McMullen was 56th for the Jayhawks with a time of 20:28.8; Adriel Martinez, 68th with a time of 21:31.9; Cross Schmidt, 70th with a time of 21:34.3; Alberto Trochez, 77th with a time of 22:24.0; Jonathan Olson, 91st with a time of 23:20.1; Tate Becker, 103rd with a time of 24:12.3; and Nolan Arkell, 111th with a time of 26:44.4.
North Union’s scorers were Gavyn Morphew, Aiden Bauer, Nicholas Arndorfer, Kade Madden and Gavin Henning.
Morphew placed 24th with a time of 18:18.6; Bauer was 65th with a time of 20:57.1; Arndorfer was 67th with a time of 21:15.0; Madden placed 92nd with a time of 23:20.6; and Henning was 100th with a time of 23:57.6.
Blue Earth Area’s scorers were Brady Lorenz, 35th with a time of 18:54.4; Devin Haase, 59th with a time of 20:33.9; Aiden Donahue, 75th with a time of 22:17.4; Seth Mathews, 80th with a time of 22:39.3; and Marcus Eckles, 83rd with a time of 22:50.0.
BEA’s other runners were Jason Casey, 95th with a time of 23:46.5; Oliver Ankeny, 96th with a time of 23:47.6; Owen Jahnke, 98th with a time of 23:53.9; and Gibson Haase, 108th with a time of 24:51.0.
Besides Pierson, Martin County West’s other runners were Grant Koehnen, who was 20th with a time of 18:00.0, Hayden O’Connor, who was 79th with a time of 23:32.1, David Taylor, who was 107th with a time of 24:27.9.
Hanson’s first-place finish helped Fairmont place fourth with 131 points behind champion Belle Plaine with 37, St. Peter with 91 and Jackson County Central with 112.
North Union finished fifth with 144 points, followed by Martin County West with 144, St. James Area with 146, Blue Earth Area with 202, Worthington with 204 and Heron Lake-Okabena with 225.
“Our girls ran well this afternoon,” Murfield said. “It was nice to see Macy look comfortable today and win the race.”
Hanson’s teammates who earned points were Kendra Blomster, Carys Gudahl, Gwyn Schultz and Paige DeBoer. Blomster placed 23rd with a time of 22:31.4; Gudahl was 25th with a time of 22:42.0; Schultz finished 36th with a time of 23:45.2; and DeBoer was 58th with a time of 26:52.4.
Rylee Maday placed 62nd with a time of 27:19.6 and Elizabeth Hart finished 63rd with a time of 27:24.4.
Alexis Cummins, who was third with a time of 20:15.7, topped North Union; Jacey Welbig and Alyssa Welbig placed 10th and 31st with times of 20:55.8 and 23:23.0; and Jennifer Carranza and Michaela Carranza, who placed 42nd and 80th in 24:29.2 and 36:01.1.
Martin County West’s top five were Katie Hartke, Maddison Lyon, Katelynn Kennedy, Evelynn Christenson and Hannah Cole.
Hartke finished ninth in 20:54.0; Lyon was 27th with a time of 23:03.7; Kennedy was 34th in 23:32.8; Christenson was 37th with a time of 23:47.5; and Cole placed 47th with a time of 25:03.2.
Eva Miranda also ran for Martin County West, taking 54th with a time of 26:02.8.
Blue Earth Area’s Aubrey Woodwick, Sidney Eitzmann, Natalie Griffy, Leah Becker and Makayla Ankeny placed in its top five.
Woodwick took 16th with a time of 21:45.0, while Eitzmann finished 29th with a time of 23:13.8.
Griffy was 46th with a time of 24:49.2; Leah Becker was 64th with a time of 27:37.7; and Ankeny was 72nd with a time of 30:28.3.
Myla Eastman also ran for Blue Earth Area, taking 78th with a time of 32:04.1.
Next for the Cardinals and Bucs is the Bucs Invitational at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Riverside Town and Country Club Golf Course just north of Blue Earth.
The Jayhawks and Mavericks compete in the Madelia Invitational at Madelia Golf Course next Thursday.
The Warriors will run in the Forest City Invitational at Bear Creek Golf Course on Monday.
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