Cross country: Sachs, Toms on to State Class A cross country meet

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Madi Sachs led the Minnewaska girls’ cross country team at the Section 6A meet last Thursday night.

Sachs cemented a spot at the state meet with a first-place finish in Long Prairie on a wet and slippery course. She led from the get-go, finishing in a time of 15:41. That was 12 seconds faster than the time she ran on the Long Prairie course earlier in the year.

Britta Lundblad ran her best race of the year at the meet, as well. She finished 53rd. Carena Zamora was the third finisher for the Lakers. She joined the team to give the girls some depth. After just two days of practice, Zamora finished 62nd in a time of 18:39.

Hayley Sachs (65th, 19:04), Mady Phillips (80th, 19:59) and Sarah Roering (93rd, 21:34) rounded out the final three finishers for the Lakers. As a team, Minnewaska finished 10th out of 14 teams.

Gage Sachs and Jacob Braaten led the Minnewaska boys. Sachs finished 21st in a time of 18:35, while Braaten was right behind him in 22nd place at 18:37. Andy Clare finished 83rd in a time of 21:56. Tom Lauinger, the only senior on the boys’ team, finished in 94th place with a time of 23:23, while Luke Musselman rounded out the Minnewaska runners with a 99th-place finish in a time of 24:06.

“I was very pleased with the performance of all our runners under these difficult weather conditions,” head coach Bob Mork said. “They showed what competitors they are by recording some very good times. The team loses two great young people who have contributed greatly to our cross country program in Sarah Roering and Tom Lauinger. Both Roering and Lauinger were part of the team for three years and will be missed for their great character and leadership abilities.

“I also want to acknowledge the contribution to our team from three young people who joined our team late after their soccer season was completed. Jacob Braaten, Anderson Clare and Carena Zamora provided energy and great attitudes at practice and our meets. Finally, Madi Sachs is the first individual section champion that I have been fortunate to have in my seven years of coaching. I look for Madi to run well at the state meet on November 7 at St. Olaf College.”

Toms advances

West Central Area’s Kyle Toms earned a sixth place finish in the boys’ division to also advance to tomorrow’s state meet.

His boys’ team finished ninth overall, while the girls’ team finished seventh.

SECTION 6A CROSS COUNTRY

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29

GIRLS’ TEAM SCORES – 1. Albany 74, 2. New London-Spicer 77, 3. Sauk Centre 95, 4. Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 11, 5. Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball 121, 6. Paynesville 149, 7. West Central Area 212, 8. Benson/KMS 216, 9. Litchfield 221, 10. Minnewaska 240, 11. Breckenridge/Campbell-Tintah 271, 12. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta/Hancock 274, 13. Ortonville 354, 14. Ottertail Central 358.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION – Madi Sach, Minnewaska, 15:41.

MINNEWASKA RESULTS – 1. Sachs, 53. Britta Lundblad 18:16, 62. Carena Zamora 18:39, 65. Hayley Sachs 19:04, 80. Madi Phillips 19:59, 93. Sarah Roering 21.34.

WEST CENTRAL AREA RESULTS – 31. Holly VanKempen 17:30.40, 40. Tee Rudnitski 18:02.90, 50. Ashton Blair 18:23.03, 54. Mikaylah Stark 18:27.84, 60. Abby Peterson 18:37.31, 83. Megan Andreason 20:09.66

BOYS’ TEAM SCORES – 1. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 56, 2. Albany 83, 3. Sauk Centre 114, 4. New London-Spicer 117, 5. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta/Hancock 132, 6. Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 176, 7. Litchfield 178, 8. Ottertail Central 210, 9. West Central Area 214, 10. Benson-KMS 294, 11. Minnewaska Area 296, 12. Ortonville 312, 13. St. John’s Prep 347, 14. Paynesville 366.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION – Stefan Lemke, Morris, 17:30.

MINNEWASKA RESULTS – 21. Gage Sachs 18:35, 22. Jacob Braaten 18:37, 83. Andy Clare 21.56, 94. Tom Lauinger 23.23, 99. Luke Musselman 24:06.

WEST CENTRAL AREA RESULTS – 6. Kyle Toms 17:54, 36. Alex Toms 19:19.36, 54. Neil Hyttsten 20:21.19, 55. John Ohloft 20:21.87, 72. Tyler Severance 21:16.58, 74. Bryan Starner 21:24.63, 77. Jacob Rakozy 21:37.55.

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