On a day made for running with partly sunny skies and temps hovering in the 50s and low 60s, nearly 4,500 young athletes made their home in the tent city at Stones Throw Golf Course in Milaca, MN. The largest meet in Minnesota also features an "Old Timers Run" that allows former HS athletes and parents to showcase their talents.
Class A Varsity Races
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle jumps from last year's 2nd place finish to win the Boys Class A race with 129 points, followed by Mounds Park Academy with 134 points (9th in 2012) and Holdingford repeating in third with 146 points.
Ryan Phillips (Redwood Valley) extended his list of first-place finishes for the season, completing the 5k race in 16:23.2. This was a nearly 16 second improvement on last year when Redwood Valley competed in Class AA and he finished 14th in 16:39.4.
Rounding out the top 3 were Ben Burgett (Willmar Community Christian) in 16:28.2 (he was 5th last year in 16:45.1) and Abe Skwira (Holdingford) in 16:30.4 (he finished in 6th last year with a 16:47.6).
On the girl's side, Trinity School at River Ridge had a decisive win with 55 points (2nd in 2012) over Spectrum at 124 points and Benson/KMS in 3rd with 184 points.
Redwood Valley swept the Class A varsity titles with Kayla Huhnerkoch taking the course in 14:46.2.
Nicole Slater (Adrian) finished in 2nd place with a 14:56.1 and Becca Wilkin (Trinity School at River Ridge) took 3rd in 15:07.4.
All three athletes saw significant improvements in their times compared to 2012 when Redwood Valley and Adrian competed in the Class AA race.
Class AA Varsity Races
On the boys side, Minnehaha Academy takes the team honors with 54 points, followed by Mora with 78 points and Martin County West with 110 points.
Ephraim Bird (Hope Academy/Minnehaha Academy) took medalist honors, running the course in 15:55.8.
Isaac Overmyer (Park Rapids) finished in 2nd with a time of 16:06.5, followed by Ethan Wagner (Minnehaha Academy) who finished in 16:18.9.
All three are ranked in lat week's Class A coach's polls.
The Class AA girls race was the most closely contested race for team place with just 6 points separating the top 3 teams. Perham claims the championship with 88 points, followed by Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd at 93 points and St. Cloud Cathedral, last year's team champion, taking 3rd with 94 points.
Alaysia Freetly (Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd) was the only AA runner to complete the course in a sub-15 minutes time with a 14:55.6.
She was followed by Rachel Eickhoff (St. Cloud Cathedral) in 15:09.7 and Bethany Coop (Mora) who completed the course in 15:16.6.
Class AAA Varsity Races
Hutchinson moved up from last year's 4th place finish to win this year's Class AAA race with 71 points. Chaska took 2nd with 106 points and Chisago Lakes moved up from 7th to take 3rd with 111 points.
Hutchinson saw a 1-2 finish with Isaiah Barlow finishing the course in 15:30.3, followed by teammate Alec Anderson in 15:58.4.
Cameron Roehl (Grand Forks Central) took 3rd place in a time of 16:06.1. Barlow set a new AAA course record with his 15:30.3 finish - the previous record was set by Chaska's Joey Duerr in 2010 at 15:42.4.
The girls AAA race looked like a repeat from last year with the top 3 teams remaining the same - Monticello took 1st with 66 points, followed by Sartell with 73 points and Chaska in third with 96 points.
Individually, Martha Hubbell (Visitation) took medalist honors with a 14:30.8 - improving on last year's 12th place finish and 15:22.6 time.
Amber Seidenkranz (Monticello) finished in second with a time of 14:39.4, followed by Anna Maurer (Hill-Murray) with a time of 14:45.4.
Class AAAA Varsity Races
The Stillwater boys repeated their #1 finish from last year, with 70 points. Perham continues to showcase it's strength as a team - they finished in 1st in the Class AA race in 2012 - with an 84 point 2nd place finish in the AAAA race. Centennial finished in the 3rd spot with 186 points.
Keeghan Hurley (Perham) finished as the individual champion with a 15:33.4 finish.
He was followed by Trent Powell (River Falls, WI.) in 15:41.9 and Sam Carlson (Bemidji) in 15:50.6.
East Ridge took the team title on the girl's side with 55 points, followed by Moorhead with 132 points and Bemidji with 140 points.
Jenna Truedson (Bemidji) finished with a 14:00.0, breaking her previous course record of 14:06.1 set just last year.
East Ridge claimed the next two spots with Bailey Ness finishing in 2nd with a 14:15.3 and Emily Betz completing the course in 14:22.4.
Boys Class AA photos by David Eickhoff
All other photos by Patrick Maurer
Full Meet Results
Race Photos