Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Maddie Moline of Manson Northwest Webster won the South Central Calhoun Invitational championship on Tuesday in Lake City.

LAKE CITY — As we move closer to the cross country postseason, athletes around the area are looking to fine-tune themselves for that big moment.

On Tuesday, Manson Northwest Webster’s Maddie Moline did just that, posting a time of 20:47.18 to capture the girls title at the South Central Calhoun Invitational.

The event took place at the Lake City Country Club.

Moline placed ahead of her MNW teammate, Preslie Oswald, who just clipped St. Edmond’s Aubrey Bemrich for third. Oswald finished in 22:05.16 to Bemrich’s time of 22:05.46.

In the team race, it was the Gaels who got the better of the Cougars on this evening. St. Edmond finished with 43 points to 80 for Manson Northwest Webster, with Ridge View, Sioux Central, the host Titans, Alta-Aurelia, Ogden, Carroll Kuemper, East Sac County, Southeast Valley, West Bend-Mallard, OABCIG and Greene County rounding out the field.

Along with Bemrich, freshman Michaela Leiting was sixth and Hannah Landwehr seventh. Fellow freshman Reese Lemberg placed 12th, and Caroline Shelly 15th to give St. Edmond five in the Top-15.

St. Edmond’s Kelli Kersten was 22nd, and Gracie Harvey 23rd.

“Our pack ran as well, as they have all year long,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “It was the best spread we have ran all year. It was really a thing of beauty to see them do exactly what we have coached them to do.

“Across the board, everybody ran a great race.”

This was Bemrich’s first race in three weeks.

“It was a tough course to come back to,” she admitted. “It definitely took some mental toughness, which our coaches always talk about.

“This team, both varsity and junior varsity, are so close and we all like to push each other in practices and at the meets. This team has a lot of potential and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the season will bring.”

For the Cougars, Paige Condon finished 10th with Abi Shannon placing 19th.

The event and course has belonged to Moline, as she now owns three invite titles here during her career.

“I felt great during my race,” Moline said. “Preslie had a great kick at the end to finish second which was exciting to see. All of my teammates have continued to improve each meet.

“Each week I have felt stronger and my confidence has continued to build. My coach does a fantastic job training us to peak at the right time. I think we are just starting to show the damage we can do during the postseason.”

Emma Schroeder was fifth to lead East Sac County, Julia Fehr earned eighth for West Bend-Mallard, Alexia Nelson was the top finisher for South Central Calhoun in 20th, Paige Melohn was 41st for Pocahontas Area and Morgan Farnham finished 42nd for Southeast Valley.

Results from the boys race were not available by press time.