Card boys' cross country: Alexandria runs to second at DL

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The Cardinal boys’ cross country team had surprise competition at the Detroit Lakes Invitational Thursday afternoon as No. 5 ranked Moorhead was on the docket.

“They [Moorhead] were not listed on the meet information as a participating team,” said Card coach Mark Nelsen. “This was a great opportunity to compete against the defending boys’ and girls’ champs.

“In addition, they are highly ranked again this year.”

Alexandria made the most of its opportunity as they finished second to the Spuds as Zach Hodgson finished third behind a pair of Moorhead runners, including Lukas Gemar, who is ranked No. 12 in the individual polls.

“The top 16 runners in the boys’ race included seven Alexandria runners and six Moorhead runners,” Nelsen said. “The determining factor was their packs were in front of ours at the finish line. We now know where we stand.”

Hodgson ran a 17:23.76, 1:05 off first place Gemar. Right behind the Cardinal senior was junior Will Sieling, who finished just 10 seconds back of his teammate in 17:34.06.

“Zach improved over two minutes on this course from last year and continues to be our top finisher,” noted the Redbird mentor. “Will had one of his better races and continues to improve.”

Mitch Ronning and Mitch Evink were 10th and 11th respective with times of 17:59.70 and 18:03.48.

Sophomore Jimmy Lovrien was 14th in 18:12.75, senior Dan Gorghuber 15th in 18:15.79 and sophomore Zac Bartolomeo 16th in 18:18.32.

“Mitch Ronning improved 17 seconds from the week before, running a great race,” said Nelsen. “Jimmy also competed with great intensity in the final 2K of the race. He is getting stronger daily and it is carrying over to competition.”

Sieling was selected as the runner of the meet for the Cards in this event.

Tags: alexandria sports, home team, cross country, sports, cardinals, boys