Cross Country: Minnewaska shines at Melrose Invite

1.DSC_7918.Lauryn Ankeny Waska.JPG — Minnewaska's Lauryn Ankeny runs in the Section 6A championship race during the 2021 season. Ankeny had a strong finish to a meet at Melrose on Sept. 20, 2022, where she placed third and helped the team place second.

By Sam Stuve

September 21, 2022 at 10:52 AM

The Minnewaska cross country program had a strong showing at the Melrose Invitational on Tuesday as it finished in the top six of the 13-team field on both the boys and girls side.

The boys placed sixth with 173 points, while the girls placed second with 73 points, led by a third-place finish by freshman Lauryn Ankeny (20:36.08) in the 5K run.

Seniors Kierra Wilmes and Elsey Hagen earned a top-15 finish. Wilmes placed ninth (21:55.84), and Hagen finished 14th (22:31.82).

Junior Maeson Tank led the way for the Laker boys as he finished fourth (17:50.08).

Maeson Tank AD7C3515.JPG — Minnewaska's Maeson Tank, left, races Bemidji's Brett Kurschner down the stretch in Perham on Oct. 7, 2021, where Tank finished 32nd overall in a time of 17:48. Tank finished fourth overall at the Melrose Invite on Sept. 20, 2022.

Senior Brandon Kampsen of Sauk Centre won the boys 5K (16:14.68), while Long Prairie-Grey Eagle junior Caroline Kuehne won the girls 5K (20:03.94). Sauk Centre finished atop the boys leaderboard with 55 points, while Wadena-Deer Creek finished atop the girls with 61 points.

Minnewaska senior Piper Citrowske ran to a 21st place finish (22:55.12), while junior Teagan Stark and senior Aubrey Stark finished 33rd (Teagan, 23:54.02) and 35th (Aubrey, 23:57.70). 7th-grader Sydney Ankeny ran a time of 25:31.86 (57th).

Senior Nick Ankeny finished with the second best time amongst the Laker boys as he ran a 19:24 and finished 24th.

Sophomore Zach Palmer placed 44th with a time of 20:25.79 while senior James Ward finished 48th with a time of 20:37.48 and sophomore Ian Mills placed 54th with a time of 20:52.86.

Chase Wacker, a sophomore, placed 69th with a time of 21:37.25 and senior Carter Dinsmore placed 75th with a time of 22:00.57.

Minnewaska’s next meet is at Paynesville at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 27.

WCA boys place fourth, girls 10th

With top 25 finishes by seniors Roman Mihalovschi (11th - 18:27.14), Eli Bergman (16th - 18:51.89), Neko Moran (18th - 19:15.87) and junior Noah Olson (24th - 19:27.80), the West Central Area boys cross country team earned fourth in the boys 5K at Melrose with 125 points.

WCA Roman Mihailovschi AD7C2123.jpg — West Central Area senior Roman Mihailovschi runs to a 14th-place finish at the Detroit Lakes Invite on Sept. 8, 2022. Mihailovschi finished in 16th-place at the Melrose Invite on Sept. 20, 2022.

Freshman Zeke Sieckert ran a time of 20:53.07 (56th), while freshman Aaron Biss ran a time of 21:30.71 (66th) and 8th-grader Michael Girard ran a time of 21:36.32 (68th).

The WCA girls finished 10th (218 points) in the invite, led by junior Taylor Bennett who placed 11th (22:36.34). Sophomore Brooklyn Strobel placed 36th with a time of 23:58.10.

Sophomore Blaire Rueter placed in the top 50 with a time of 24:27.59 (48th). Junior Terina Blascyk placed 61st (25:44.75), junior Alex Blume placed 66th (26:25.16) and Whitney Blume placed 77th (27:40.87).

The Knights next competition is on Saturday in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Paulson, Froemming lead the way for B-E

Junior Ashley Paulson had the best finish (31st - 23:49.62) for the Brandon-Evansville girls team on Tuesday, while senior Logan Froemming had the best finish for the boys (35th - 20:01.93).

1.DSC_8024.Ashley Paulson ABE.JPG — Ashby-Brandon-Evansville runner Ashley Paulson heads to the finish line during the Section 6A championship on Oct. 29, 2021. Paulson finished 31st in the Melrose Meet on Sept. 20, 2022.

B-E finished 13th on both the boys (302) and the girls side (329).

In the boys run, junior Kaleb Burkey, sophomore August Bredberg and freshman Kenneth Spielman finished right next to each other as Burkey finished 60th (21:15.16), Bredberg finished 61st (21:15.20) and Spielman finished 62th (21:21.03).

Sophomores Donnell Lee and Logan Haseman finished 84th (Lee - 23:08.95) and 87th (23:49.68) respectively, while 8th-grader Ben Myron finished 91st (25:08.39).

8th-grader Hope Rovang had the second finish for the B-E girls as she ran a time of 26:53.99 (70th), while 7th-grader Lauren Thoennes finished just behind her (73rd - 27:05.96). 7th-grader Lexi Bitzan finished 82nd (29:24.54) and junior Naomi Fournier finished 85th (30:58.76).

The Chargers are in Fergus Falls for a meet on Sept. 29.

TEAM SCORES - BOYS - 1. Sauk Centre, 55; 2. Pequot Lakes, 85; 3. New London-Spicer, 94; 4. West Central Area, 125; 5. Litchfield, 137; 6. Minnewaska, 173; 7. Breckenridge/Wahpeton, 183; 8. Melrose, 195; 9. Wadena-Deer Creek, 213; 10. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, 224; 11. Paynesville, 274; 12. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, 292; 13. Brandon-Evansville, 302; GIRLS - 1. Wadena-Deer Creek, 61; 2. Minnewaska, 73; 3. New London-Spicer, 92; 4. Litchfield, 143; 5. Melrose, 176; 6. Breckenridge/Wahpeton, 180; 7. Pequot Lakes, 187; 8. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, 200; 9. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, 216; 10. West Central Area, 218; 11. Sauk Centre, 263; 12. Paynesville, 269; 13. Brandon-Evansville, 329

By Sam Stuve

Sam Stuve covers a variety of sports in the Douglas County area. He also is assigned to do some news stories as well.