By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
WASECA – The Waseca boys’ and girls’ cross country teams were dominant at Lakeside Golf Course last Thursday.
Coach Gary Meurer’s Bluejays had an easy time capturing team titles at the Waseca Invitational.
Coach Mike Weber’s New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva teams placed sixth among nine teams in the boys’ race and sixth among seven teams in the girls’ race.
The Panther boys have an overall mark of 26-50 in seven races, while the girls stand 6-32 for the season.Boys
The high-flying Waseca boys, led by Shane Streich, pulled away from the field to easily capture its own meet with 34 points. Jordan was a distant second with 65 points.
The Bluejays have won three meets this year and are 68-6 overall.
NRHEG finished in sixth place with 140 points, eight points shy of conference foe Blooming Prairie.
Streich handed T.J. Schiltz his second loss this season, pulling away at the end to win the 5,000-meter race in 15:40. Schiltz was second in 16:16.
Streich also beat Schiltz at Montgomery earlier this year.
“T.J. ran a good race and is keeping his times low,” said Weber. “Streich is an exceptional runner and just pulled away at the end.”
Adam Anderson, Raece Johnson and Josh Fleming were the next three Panther runners. Anderson finished 24th in 18:52, Johnson ran 19:11 to place 32nd and Fleming was 35th in 19:32.
“Adam did a nice job staying in front of a group of runners,” said Weber. “Josh continues to narrow the gap between himself and Adam and Raece.”
C.J. Schiltz was the final Panther to count in the scoring. He placed 47th in the race, running a 20:39.
Zach Mely and Aaron Seath also ran with the varsity. Mely placed 49th in 20:44, followed by Seath in the 59th position in 22:23.
Girls
Waseca used its pack running style to cruise to a championship in the girls’ race. The Jays had the third, fourth and fifth place finishers in scoring 27 points.
USC was well back with 69 points in the runner-up spot.
It was Waseca’s second win of the year as the Bluejays raised their overall mark to 53-13.
USC’s Bev Stevermer captured the 4,000-meter race in 15:02, five seconds ahead of Tierney Winter of WEM/JWP.
NRHEG scored 185 points to place sixth, three points in front of Blooming Prairie.
Katharine Lewer was NRHEG’s top runner. She placed 23rd in 17:43.
“This was Katharine’s best run of the season,” said Weber. “Her time is where we would like to keep it.”
Sandra Quezada covered the course in 18:38, earning her the 31st position in the race.
Missy Malakowsky ran her best time of the fall as NRHEG’s third runner. She finished 35th in 18:49.
Kristy Possin finished 45th in 20:36 as the fourth Panther runner.
Tina Quezada was two places behind Possin, finishing her race in 21:19.
Marissa Mortenson was the final Panther runner, placing 50th in 23:41.
“The majority of our point-getters had their best times of the season,” said Weber.
NRHEG will compete in the Gopher/Valley Conference Meet at Mankato Loyola Tuesday.
That will be the final Panther action until the section meet Oct. 24th.
Waseca Invite
Team results (B): 1)-Waseca 34, 2)-Jordan 65, 3)-Kasson-Mantorville 85, 4)-USC 130, 5)-Blooming Prairie 132, 6)-NRHEG 140, 7)-WEM/JWP 151, 8)-Maple River 194, 9)-Medford 224.
(G): 1)-Waseca 27, 2)-USC 69, 3)-Jordan 97, 4)-WEM/JWP 106, 5)-Kasson-Mantorville 145, 6)-NRHEG 185, 7)-Blooming Prairie 188.
NEXT: Tuesday – Gopher/Valley Conference Meet at Mankato Loyola, 4 p.m.