Victoria Lutz and Kayla Stursa earned all-conference honors and the Park Rapids boys cross country team finished fifth at Thursday's Mid-State Conference meet at Wadena.
Lutz finished fourth in 16:34 and Stursa was sixth in 16:38 as the Panthers claimed two of the 10 all-conference spots in the girls 4,000-meter race. Lydia Lutz finished 13th in 17:01 and Tiffany Deitchler was 16th in 17:21 to round out Park Rapids' girls squad.
In the boys 5,000-meter race, Lars Ellefson (14th in 18:35), Isaac Zoller (18th in 18:56), Colter Uscola (27th in 19:18), Joey Meinert (32nd in 19:49) and Jake Hanson (33rd in 19:50) led the Panthers to fifth place in the six-team field with 118 points.
Staples-Motley had no problem conquering the snowy and windy conditions to sweep both titles.
Naomi Landecker led the field in the girls race with a winning time of 15:33 and Natasha Wenzel followed in 16:00 as the Cardinals ran away with the team title with 30 points. Wadena-Deer Creek was second with 65 points.
ADVERTISEMENT
The other all-conference runners were Detroit Lakes' Hallie Hoganson and Chantel Paquette; Crosby-Ironton's Stacey Gustafson; W-DC's Hannah Toedter and Kelsey Browne; and Staples-Motley's Rachel Arniot.
In the boys race, Staples-Motley finished with 54 points to edge out Pequot Lakes' 58. Clayton Foster of Pequot Lakes led the field in 17:19.
Joining Foster on the all-conference squad were Staples' Josiah Furhman, Jordan Bendson and Josh Ulring; C-I's Peter Vukelich, Keagan Leonard and Nick Stockman; W-DC's Cory Asfeld; and Detroit Lakes' Aaron Jasken.
In the junior high race, Jordan Fisher (eighth in 13:27) and Jason Dennis (19th in 15:36) competed for the Panthers.
"I thought we ran really well considering the conditions," said Park Rapids head coach Kenny Miller. "All four girls had their best times. We would have finished second if we would have had a fifth runner. The boys also ran well. Almost everyone ran significantly better than the first time we ran in Wadena. Overall I thought we did really well. We turned in another solid performance."
The Panthers hosted their annual invitational meet Monday at Headwaters Country Club and will prepare for the Section 8A meet Oct. 27 at Bagley.
Boys team scores: Staples-Motley 54, Pequot Lakes 58, Detroit Lakes 68, Crosby-Ironton 77, Park Rapids 118, Wadena-Deer Creek 155.
Individual results
ADVERTISEMENT
1, Clayton Foster, PL, 17:19. 2, Josiah Fuhrman, S-M, 17:21. 3, Peter Vukelich, C-I, 17:35. 4, Keegan Leonard, CI, 17:51. 5, Cory Asfeld, W-DC, 17:56. 6, Kellen Braren, PL, 17:59. 7, Nick Stockman, C-I, 18:13. 8, Jordan Bendson, S-M, 18:14. 9, Josh Ulring, S-M, 18:15. 10, Aaron Jasken, DL, 18:16. 14, Lars Ellefson, PR, 18:35. 18, Isaac Zoller, PR, 18:56. 27, Colter Uscola, PR, 19:18. 32, Joey Meinert, PR, 19:49. 33, Jake Hanson, PR, 19:50. 39, Derek Werner, PR, 20:14. 40, Ben Sperle, PR, 20:15. 53, Josh Davis, PR, 21:45.
Girls team scores: Staples-Motley 30, Wadena-Deer Creek 65, Crosby-Ironton 66, Detroit Lakes 86, Pequot Lakes 89.
Individual results
1, Naomi Landecker, S-M, 15:33. 2, Natasha Wenzel, S-M, 16:00. 3, Hallie Hoganson, DL, 16:21. 4, Victoria Lutz, PR, 16:34. 5, Stacey Gustafson, C-I, 16:35. 6, Kayla Stursa, PR, 16:38. 7, Hannah Toedter, W-DC, 16:43. 8, Chantel Paquette, DL, 16:48. 9, Kelsey Browne, W-DC, 16:51. 10, Rachel Arniot, S-M, 16:54. 13, Lydia Lutz, PR, 17:01. 16, Tiffany Deitchler, PR, 17:21.
