Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Bryce Gidel of Humboldt runs in the Algona Invitational on Tuesday at River Road Golf Course. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

ALGONA — The Humboldt girls cross country team won the Algona Invitational here on Tuesday.

The event was delayed 24 hours due to heavy rain the area on Monday.

Bryce Gidel picked up another individual title, leading the third-ranked (Class 3A) Wildcats past No. 6 Charles City, 50-57. The sophomore finished in 19:17.

On the boys side, Clear Lake downed No. 13 Humboldt by 11 points. The two have gone back-and-forth over the past three meets for team gold, with the Lions winning two crowns.

North Union’s Riley Bauer, a defending state champion, won the boys race in 16:09.

St. Edmond, ranked 10th in 1A, placed fourth overall in the girls standings, led by Abby Landwehr’s 15th-place performance. The Gael boys were 14th, with Jed Tracy scoring the top finish at 19th in 17:49.

“I think Abby ran one of her better races,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “Audrey (Kolacia) also ran a great race. Jed just continues to get better, as he got under 18 minutes for the first time.

“This is a very tough meet, especially on the girls side with Humboldt, Charles City, Spencer and Emmetsburg, so placing fourth ahead of (No. 8, 2A) Emmetsburg was a great showing for our girls.”

Seniors Gabby Estlund and Justin Vaughan had the top individual finishes for Fort Dodge. Estlund placed 16th in 21:14 and Vaughn was 26th in 18:11.

“The kids ran great,” FDSH head coach Joe Jackson said. “We had almost all of our kids run personal bests. They can tell that the hard work is really paying off.

“Even our junior varsity kids, some of them knocked two minutes off their times.”

“Gabby and Justin really had good races,” Jackson said. “All of the kids ran really well. They went out and got after it.”

Joining Gidel in the Top-10 for Humboldt was Gabby Kent, who finished fourth. Emmetsburg’s Raven Brown was fifth.

Algona’s Trey Engen was third overall, with Joseph Kunert and Quinton Orr finishing fourth and fifth for the Wildcat boys. Webster City’s Tyler Bultena finished 13th and Eagle Grove’s Jon Koester was 18th.

Cruz Bowman from Emmetsburg placed 10th overall.

The next meet for the Dodgers will be next Thursday when they host the Fort Dodge Invitational at the Fort Dodge Country Club. St. Edmond will also be at the meet.