-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Michaela Leiting of St. Edmond compete in the girls 5k run during NCC Conference on Tuesday at Lakeside Golf Course

The St. Edmond girls cross country team gave it everything they had here Tuesday evening in pursuit of the North Central Conference title.

Behind three runners in the Top-9 and four finishing within the Top-15, the Gaels were able to score a second place finish overall just behind Clear Lake.

The Lions relied on individual winner Addison Doughan and bronze medalist Rebekah Steinbron, as all five counting scorers came across the finish line at Lakeside Golf Course inside of the Top-17.

Clear Lake, ranked eighth in Class 3A, tallied 47 points, 12 ahead of No. 2 (1A) St. Edmond. Iowa Falls-Alden was third followed by Humboldt, Algona, Hampton-Dumont/CAL and Webster City.

Algona’s Mara Davis was the runner-up, finishing in 20:17. Doughan blazed the course in 19:15 with Steinbron clocking a time of 20:19.

Michaela Leiting was just behind Steinbron, coming home fourth overall to lead the way for the Gaels. Hannah Landwehr was seventh in 20:38 and Ellie Knox finished eighth in 20:59.

Both Leiting and Landwehr finished their careers as three-time all-NCC performers.

“That pack really put together a great race,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “I feel like we a much deeper team with our sixth and seventh runners really pushing the pace.

“After this performance, I’m excited for next Thursday (and districts) to take on the challenge and see what we can do.”

Anna Lursen added another runner in the Top-15 by placing 15th overall in 22:08 with Reese Lemberg finishing 25th in 23:01. Andee Barwin was 27th (23:15) and Nina Smith 28th (23:16) to round out the lineup.

All seven runners recorded a personal-record on the night for the Gaels.

“You can’t ask for much more than that,” Szalat said. “Anna’s been battling shin splits and that’s been tough on her, but she gutted it out and did what she could for the team.

“Andee continues to have a great finish to her senior season and Nina is someone who went out a week before the season started and is really going to have a bright future.”

This was the second consecutive season in which Clear Lake, St. Edmond and Iowa Falls-Alden took the Top-3 spots in the team standings, as the Gaels grabbed silver last year on the tiebreaker runner. St. Edmond won gold in 2021 ahead of Clear Lake.

Last week, the Gaels were given a first-hand look the course by competing in the Fort Dodge Invitational.

“That was big for us,” Szalat said. “They are two totally different meets because of the numbers, but being familiar with the layout of the course certainly helps. We were able to guard against getting out too fast.

“To the credit of our kids, though, they might be in better shape and able to hold that faster pace throughout.”

For Humboldt, Brynn Malo earned fifth overall in a time of 20:27 with Bella Metli finishing 19th and Meg Zweibohmer 24rd. Alana Malo was 30th followed by Elise Stattelman in 31st, Joslyn Orr in 32nd and Payton Elman in 36th.

Webster City’s Isabel Grossoehme was 12th in 21:26 to lead the way for the Lynx. Rosemary Chamness placed 40th followed in order by Karina Murray, Lydia VanDeer and Sydney Oswald.

Behind runner-up Davis was Algona’s Malyn Davis, who finished 22nd. Teammate Hayden Kuhlmann was 23rd with McKenna VanReese placing 29th, Sienna Fehr finishing 38th and Kaitlyn Burns placing 39th.

St. Edmond found out where they will head next week for districts, taking part in the 1A meet hosted by South Hardin. Joining the Gaels on Thursday, Oct. 19 will be Baxter, BCLUW, Belle Plaine, BGM, Colo-Nesco, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, GMG, HLV, Iowa Valley, Meskawaki Settlement, Montezuma, North Butler, North Mahaska, North Tama, Pekin, South Hamilton and Waterloo Christian.

Algona, Humboldt and Webster City will be part of the 3A qualifier in Spencer on Wednesday, Oct. 18.