NRHEG cross country team members. Standing, from left: Devon Nelton, Jacob Karl, Erin Arvis, Coach Miles Otstot, Samuel Christensen, Conner Nelson, Gavin Sletten. On the ground: Torri Vaale, Holly Bartness, Annabelle Petsinger, Quinn VanMaldeghem, and Lexi McGannon.
Photos by Chris Schlaak
The NRHEG girls cross country team did everything they could to win its conference track meet last week, ultimately losing via tie breaker to WEM/JWP. The boys finished third.
“While disappointed we did not win the conference, I am very proud of how all our runners did today,” NRHEG head coach Miles Otstot said. “They fought through a lot of adversity this season. Despite having only 11 varsity athletes between both boys and girls, they put together a strong showing at conference today.”
On the girls side, JWP/WEM won it with a score of 50, followed by NRHEG with 50. The tiebreaker was based on the team’s sixth runner and because NRHEG did not have a 6th varsity runner, they could not win the tiebreaker. Finishing in third was Blooming Prairie, 56, followed by Maple River, 89 and Medford, 90.
This was the first meet back for 8th grader Quinn VanMaldeghem after missing the last two. She came up just short of a conference championship, finishing second. The Panther next leading runner, as she has been all year, was Torri Vaale who finished right behind VanMaldeghem, taking third.
“Our girls had a strong meet led by Quinn VanMaldeghem and Torri Vaale,” coach Otstot said. “Torri has had a great season after a great summer to prepare. This third place finish was the result of a lot of hard work on her part.”
Individually for the Panther girls: Quinn VanMaldeghem, 2nd place, 21:53, 1st Team All-Conference; Torri Vaale, 3rd place, 22:14, 1st Team All-Conference; Holly Bartness, 10th place, 24:34, 2nd Team-All Conference; Annabelle Petsinger, 12th place, 24:42; 2nd Team All-Conference, Lexi McGannon; 25th place, 28:08.
For the boys, they were on the winning end of a tie breaker, narrowly capturing the third place slot over Medford. WEM/JWP also won for the boys, with a score of 20, followed by Blooming Prairie, 79; NRHEG, 83; Medford, 83; Maple River, 103, and Hayfield 132.
Individually for the Panther boys: Devon Nelton; 8th place, 19:17, 2nd Team All-Conference; Jacob Karl; 13th place, 19:38, All-Conference Honorable Mention; Conner Nelson; 18th place, 20:14, All-Conference Honorable Mention; Samuel Christensen; 22nd place, 20:28; Gavin Sletten; 26th place, 21:12; Eric Arvis; 29th place, 21:18.
“Both teams had strong days to start their post season at our conference meet,” coach Otstot said. “We are looking forward to another strong race at our section meet.”
The Panthers travel to compete in their section meet Thursday, Oct. 28.