Card girls' cross country: 1-2-3 finish gives Alexandria first at Fergus Falls

• Betterman

Contributed Karly Betterman ran her best race of the season for the Cardinals as she improved her time by 11 seconds to finish 18th.

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A 1-2-3 finish for the Cardinals earned the girls’ cross country team an easy 35-point first place finish at the John Hermes Invitational in Fergus Falls Thursday as Jamie Piepenburg, Megan Hasz and Bethany Hasz finished within 11 seconds of each other.

“Because of the windy conditions, we had only three season best times in the 42 races,” said head coach Mark Nelsen. “Megan and Bethany had great races, and continue to improve and demonstrate why they are ranked in the state coaches poll.”

Piepenburg had a 14:33.7, with Megan Hasz finishing in 14:41.6 and Bethany Hasz less than three seconds after that at 14:44.4. Karly Betterman followed with a 16:49.0 to finish 18th.

“Karly ran her best race of the season and improved on her time from last year by 11 seconds,” said Nelsen.

Julie Sieling finished 24th in the team scoring with a 17:06.9, Emily Thul was 28th in 17:13.2 and Kaci McCoy was 29th in 17:15.3.

“The girls will need to reduce their team gap by cham-pionship time,” said the coach. “We started the season at more than 3:00 from our one to five runners.

“We have been as low as 2:19 at the Rocori meet, and were 2:33 [at Fergus Falls]. We will definitely need to lower it to 2:00 to compete with the top teams in our section.”

Megan Hasz, Bethany Hasz and McCoy were named the varsity runners of the meet for their performances.

Next up for the Cardinals is the prestigious Alexandria Lions “Meet of Champions” on Saturday, Ocotober 8 at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center.

WEST CENTRAL AREA RESULTS

West Central Area 8th grader Abby VanKempen competed against some very talented competition from both Class A and AA, finishing 15th at the John Hermes Invitational in Fergus Falls.

VanKempen ran a 16:42.3, while teammate sophomore Kylee Fernholz was 22nd with a time of 16:50.0.

The Knights also had sophomore Ashton Blair finishing 73rd in 19:37.9 and sophomore Katie Poyser coming in 83rd with a time of 22:03.6. West Central Area did not run a full girls’ team at this event.

JOHN HERMES INVITATIONAL

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

TEAM SCORES – 1. Alexandria 48, 2. Bemidji 83, 3. Park Rapids 97, 4. Little Falls 100, 5. Fergus Falls 122, 6. Detroit Lakes 166, 7. Wahpeton 204, 8. Jamestown, ND 226, 9. Pelican Rapids 234, 10. Breckenridge 246, 11. Staples-Motley 263, 12. Treknorth 275.

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION – Jamie Piepenburg, Alex, 14:33.7.

ALEXANDRIA RESULTS – 1. Piepenburg, 2. Megan Hasz 14:41.6, 3. Bethany Hasz 14:44.4, 19. Karly Betterman 16:49.0, 26. Julia Sieling 17:06.9, 30. Emily Thul 17:13.2, 31. Kaci McCoy 17:15.3.

WEST CENTRAL AREA RESULTS – 15. Abby VanKempen 16:42.3, 22. Kylee Fernholz 16:50.0, 73. Ashton Blair 19:37.9, 83. Katie Poyser 22:03.6.

Tags: alexandria sports, cross country, sports, cardinals, girls