MNW, Gaels fare well in Belmond
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BELMOND – Runners hit the trail at the Belmond Country Club here on Tuesday for the R.S. Belmond-Klemme Invitational.
One week after competing in extreme heat, rain clouds were almost a welcome sign, as they brought more reasonable temperatures to the meet.
The Manson Northwest Webster girls picked up top overall honors, while the Cougar boys placed second to Garner-Hayfield/Ventura.
For St. Edmond, Naomi Valles and Grace Schlegel each cracked the Top-10, as the Gael girls finished in fifth overall. The St. Edmond boys placed seventh.
"We had seven PRs combined, with five of them coming from kids new to the high school program," SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. "Overall, I was very happy. We talk about testing the kids mentally and I feel like with these conditions, we did that.
"We got a little tougher as a team and I'm happy about that. Also, this was the most competitive fire we've had of the three meets we've competed in this season."
Maddie Wittrock led a balanced effort for MNW, as she placed ninth in 21:59. Kaylee Pugh was 14th, Kathleen Hildreth finished 20th, Hayden Oswald was 24th and Ella Oswald placed 25th.
Valles finished seventh in 21:51, with Schlegel coming in eighth at 21:57. Greenlee Crimmins was 41st, Lily Eslick 42nd and Mae Pokorny 49th.
"Getting Naomi and Grace both under 22 (minutes) was nice to see," Szalat said. "Lily bounced back for us and that was important to see."
Eagle Grove's London Parrott placed fifth in 21:10, as Myka Anderson was 37th and Ingrid Pull finished 43rd.
Alexis Mujica of Mason City Newman was the race winner in 18:47.
On the boys side, Eagle Grove was sixth overall and Clarion-Goldfield/Dows took 10th.
Leading the way for the Cougars was Levi Ollinger, as he finished seventh in 17:57. Kyle Widlund was 10th, Logan Meyer placed 25th, Thomas Lundberg was 34th and David Nelson crossed in 37th.
Erik Larson was the top Gael performer, placing 14th in 18:46. Aidan Reel was 20th in 18:59, as Andrew Barwin finished 50th, Ethan Cibert 65th and Abram Ribbens 76th.
"Really excited for Erik," Szalat said. "He's worked at this for a long time and been hovering around 19 minutes, so for him to get down in the 18s was exciting. Aidan put his mind towards wanting to do well and we are seeing that.
"I am very excited about the progress of the boys over the past month."
For Eagle Grove, Hunter Waldo-Martinez was 15th in 18:49, as Stetson Kvale placed 29th, Asarel Castro was 42nd, Anthony Vasquez finished 60th and Tucker Taylor was 69th. Logan Torsell was the top finisher for the Cowboys, clocking a time of 19:00 for 22nd.
Carson Gump finished 27th, Max Engstler was 56th, Edurardo Rivera was 58th and Roy Hoang finished 86th.
North Butler's Ezra Almelien won the race in 16:47.
St. Edmond runs next on Tuesday at the Emmetsburg Invitational.