Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Linnie Pratt of Fort Dodge competes in the girls portion of the Southeast Valley Invitational on Thursday in Gowrie.

GOWRIE — The St. Edmond girls cross country team used four Top-25 finishers to secure silver here Thursday at the Southeast Valley Invitational.

Madrid claimed top honors, as Newell-Fonda was third. Manson Northwest Webster, Panorama, Fort Dodge, South Central Calhoun, Greene County and the host Jaguars rounded out the field.

West Bend-Mallard’s Tyra Schupbach controlled the field, as she won the individual title by almost 24 seconds. Iris Melody of South Central Calhoun was fifth while Newell-Fonda’s Danika Meyer and Quinn Sievers placed sixth and seventh.

Leading the way for the Dodgers was Linnie Pratt, as the sophomore posted a time of 22:53.26 to place 10th overall.

St. Edmond’s top finish came from Grace Schlegel, as the freshman was 15th in 23:13.48. Teammate Naomi Valles finished 19th in 24:14 while Alex Leiting was 22nd (24:30) and Lily Eslick placed 23rd (24:33).

“It was nice to see Grace make the transition from a 2K to a 5K,” Szalat said. “She didn’t get out too fast and did a nice job of pacing herself. She really takes running seriously and understands what it takes.

“Naomi has a really bright future and we’ll keep building off this. I thought Alex and Lily ran smart races, and Greenlee, for her first time out, showed she has a lot of potential.”

Along with Pratt’s run, Saiya Noborikawa finished 36th for Fort Dodge in 25:35, as Aileah Geopfert was 39th in 26:03.

“Linnie had a slow first mile but she got out after it for the rest of the race,” FDSH head coach Joe Jackson said. “Saiya did really well, as did Aileah. I thought all of the girls really had nice races, which was a great way to start the year.”

Manson Northwest Webster’s Raygin Anderson placed 12th to lead her team.

St. Edmond, Fort Dodge, Manson Northwest Webster and Southeast Valley will be back in action on Tuesday when they head to the Webster City Invitational. That field also features Algona, Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Eagle Grove, Humboldt, Webster City Ballard, Belmond-Klemme, Boone, Gilbert, Hampton-Dumont/CAL, Nevada, Roland-Story, South Hamilton and Waverly-Shell Rock.