-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond Girls Cross Country leap for joy during Southeast Valley Invitational on Thursday at Gowrie Country Club

GOWRIE — Abby Landwehr enters her senior cross country season a veteran of the sport.

Landwehr has qualified for state each of the past three seasons, and is hoping to have her best finish later this year at Lakeside Golf Course inside Kennedy Park in Fort Dodge.

On Thursday night, the St. Edmond runner kicked off her final go-round with a 20-second victory here at the Southeast Valley Invitational, helping the Gaels place first overall as a team.

Landwehr finished in 21:16.43, with OABCIG’s Madison Schiernbeck placing second. Ridge View was the runner-up to SEHS in the team race by two points, with South Central Calhoun earning third behind Alexia Nelson’s fifth place finish.

“It’s crazy that this was my last first meet,” Landwehr said. “I knew what I had to do. The leaders started out faster than I wanted to go at the beginning, so I gradually worked my way up and ran my own race.”

Aubrey Bemrich finished ninth overall, with Kelli Kersten placing 15th, Leah Johnson 16th and Sydney Schulte 17th.

“Our numbers are up for the team, so there is more competition among our middle runners,” Landwehr said. “It will be good motivation for the girls to push each other. Our team atmosphere is super positive overall so I’m excited to see what these girls can do this year.”

Landwehr, who is now a four-time individual champion at this event, was 12 seconds behind Schiernbeck at the two-mile mark.

“Abby ran one of the better races in the 20 years that I have been here from one of our kids,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “You could just tell that she was getting stronger as the race went on and see she wanted to make a statement running against a couple of ranked kids.”

Aleksandria Aljets was 21st overall, Erin Flattery finished 24th, Olivia Kolacia was 26th, Gracie Harvey placed 33rd and Caroline Shelly was 39th to give St. Edmond 10 runners in the Top-40.

Flattery and Bemrich both previously played volleyball, but were members of the state-qualifying distance medley relay for the Gaels this past spring in track.

Manson Northwest Webster’s Paige Condon led the Cougars, as she finished sixth overall in 23:15.43.

The host Jaguars placed fourth overall with Morgan Farnham placing 27th. Clarion-Goldfield/Dows’ Raven Kinnetz, a 2017 state runner, was 23rd overall.

St. Edmond returns to action on Tuesday when they run at the Webster City Invitational.

SOUTHEAST VALLEY INVITATIONAL

Team Standings

1. St. Edmond, 45; 2. Ridge View, 47; 3. South Central Calhoun, 73; 4. Southeast Valley, 114; 5. OABCIG, 124; 6. Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, 153; 7. West Bend-Mallard, 161.

Individual Top-5

1. Abby Landwehr, St. Edmond, 21:16.43; 2. Madison Schiernbeck, OABCIG, 21:36.82; 3. Katlyn Wiese, Ridge View, 21:45.86; 4. Rachel Kenney, Ridge View, 22:39.90; 5. Alexia Nelson, South Central Calhoun, 22:54.84.

St. Edmond — 1. Landwehr; 9. Aubrey Bemrich, 24:09.65; 15. Kelli Kersten, 24:44.74; 16. Leah Johnson, 24:46.09; 17. Sydney Schulte, 24:47.89.

South Central Calhoun — 5. Nelson; 18. Lily Christian, 24:48.80; 19. Alayna Murley, 24:50.85; 20. Ashley Hanks, 24:55.55; 29. Mariah Hardy, 25:47.40.

Southeast Valley — 27. Morgan Farnham, 25:28.76; 34. Emily Hemmestad, 26:27.35; 41. Hannah Rees, 27:03.30; 53. Emma Hunter, 29:03.37; 69. Jayden Gardipee, 31:28.19.

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows — 23. Raven Kinnetz, 25:16.61; 46. Jackie Lopez, 27:37.79; 55. Natalie Kirstein, 29:26.56; 56. Courtney Harle, 29:27.71; 57. Kaylynn Nelson, 29:34.39.

West Bend-Mallard — 25. Crystal Fehr, 25:26.66; 66. Kallie Eggers, 31:02.10; 67. Brock Haley, 31:14.65; 68. Morgan Schmidt, 31:25.39; 72. Ashley Warren, 32:15.37.

Manson NW — 6. Paige Condon, 23:15.43; 38. Kelsey Windlund, 26:47.17; 54. Noelle Johnson, 29:14.87; 70. Kimmy Bair, 31:38.89.