By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
When the NRHEG cross country teams traveled to the Gopher Valley Conference meet at Oak View Golf Course Thursday, Oct. 22, it was not an unfamiliar path.
They’d been there a week earlier.
“Last week our squad ran at Freeborn, and we did tonight,” said coach Mike Weber. “Typically, this never happens, but it was rather nice, as we could get accurate times to see improvement. The boys ran well at our Gopher-Valley Conference meet.”
They were led by senior Tyler Schlaak, who clocked 19:11 for 29th place. Right behind was Josh Fleming in 30th with a time of 19:13.
“Tyler was our lead boy again,” said Weber. “Tyler has been doing a nice job for us, and he was about 10 seconds faster this week. Josh’s time dropped by over a minute.”Following for the NRHEG boys: Zach Mely, 44th, 20:06; Ben Lewer, 47th, 20:33; Jorey Fischer, 54th, 21:16; Braden Routh, 56th, 21:25; and Orin Mely, 61st, 24:44.
“Captain Zach Mely dropped 25 seconds,” said Weber. “Ben had an excellent run, earning himself a personal record. Jorey followed suit with a PR of his own. These top five scorers showed improvement, which makes us coaches excited about heading into sections at Montgomery next week.”
Mankato Loyola/Cleveland and Martin County West each scored 58 points to top a nine-team field with, Loyola/Cleveland taking the tiebreaker. Blooming Prairie had 85 points, LCWM/Nicollet 92, Maple River 135, USC 154, JWP/WEM 184 and NRHEG 201. One squad was incomplete.
NRHEG’s girls were eighth among eight schools with 195 points. Martin County West won with 54, followed by LCWM/Nicollet at 60, Loyola/Cleveland 75, Maple River 99, WEM/JWP 116, USC 63, Blooming Prairie 167. Medford was incomplete.
For the Panthers: Jade Mely, 27th, 23:18; Mia Williams, 38th, 24:20; Katharine Lewer, 40th, 24:47; Marissa Mortenson, 50th, 27:21; Destiny Medrano, 51st, 27:47.
Said Weber: “The past few weeks we’ve had a different varsity lineup at the various meets, but this could be our squad for sections. These five are settling into their spots. Jade is having a fabulous season and led our team for another meet. She had a PR and she improves each week. Mia had a strong race, reaching a PR. She ran over a minute faster than last week on the same course. Captain Katharine Lewer ran nearly a minute faster than last week. Marissa continues to run consistent times. Destiny reached her PR by two minutes. As with the boys’ team, the girls have to feel good about how everyone has been improving as we are into the postseason.”