Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Senior Brynn Malo of Humboldt competes in the girls' NCC conference racein Algona on Tuesday.

ALGONA — The Humboldt girls cross country team had October 14 circled on their calendar.

At the beginning of the season the Wildcats set a goal to become North Central Conference champions.

On Tuesday, they did just that.

Humboldt (44) placed three runners in the Top-5 and claimed the league championship, finising seven points better than runner Clear Lake (51) to win their first NCC title since 2018.

“(Tuesday) was a great night,” said Humboldt head coach Joel Hoogland. “We saved our best night of the season for our biggest race of the season so far. Winning the conference was a goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year, and something we really started buying into around the Algona meet two weeks ago.

“We had beaten all of the other conference teams when we left the meet that night. So to top off last night with a conference title was awesome. Clear Lake ran an amazing meet, and we had to match it. We had a few girls run two minutes faster than they did on the same course two weeks ago. It was amazing. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Sophomore Avery Fisher (19:43.04) was the runner-up, finishing behind champion Saylor Schmitt (19:40.43) of Clear Lake. Avery’s twin sister, Aubry Fisher (20:18.62), was fourth.

Senior three-time state qualifier Brynn Malo (19:56.93) placed third. Junior Macey Rodgers (21:34.27) was ninth. Senior Elsie Stattleman placed 27th, while freshman Kimberly Sanchez was 35th and senior Kinley Nilles placed 41st.

“That front pack of three has been amazing all year,” Hoogland said. “They’ve interchanged (as far as) who has been our one, two or three runners. I think that’s made us stronger. We know if one of us is having an off day, there is another one that can take that place, which just makes our meet performances that much better.

“Our four and five have really made huge strides this year, too. Macey Rodgers has had a great season and she set a lifetime PR, and our five, Elsie Stattleman, had her best race of the season, too.”

The Fisher sisters, Rodgers, and Sanchez will all return to the starting lineup next season as well.

“Having a lot of youth experience this year will only set us up for those same expectations next year,” Hoogland said. “It will be tough again. Clear Lake has a lot of depth, and other teams bring back and reload with other girls too, but having a taste of it this year will keep us hungry for next year.”