By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The NRHEG High School cross country teams took some high hopes and a season’s worth of work into the Section 2AA meet hosted by Norwood-Young America at Baylor Park Thursday, Oct. 26.
It did not go as they hoped.
The Panthers’ state hopefuls fell short and the girls’ squad finished 10th out of 17 teams, marking the end of the season for NRHEG distance runners.
Sophomores Devon Nelson and Jacob Karl, who placed first and third, respectively, in the Gopher Conference meet, finished far off the pace. Karl placed 28th, clocking 18:06.02 for 5 kilometers, while Nelton was 31st in 18:06.32. Also running for the Panthers were Jackson McGannon, who took 79th in 20:35.96, and Owen Flatland, who was 107th with a time of 23:57.69.
The boys’ section champion was St. James senior Levi Miest, who clocked 16:06.32.
Boys’ team standings: Mountain Lake 60, St. James 70, Mankato Loyola 81, Madelia 127, LCWM 134, Sibley East 178, Norwood-Young America 239, LeSueur-Henderson 259, Lester Prairie 262, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 270, WEM 295, Martin County West 296, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 303, Maple River 304, Blue Earth Area 372. NRHEG and United South Central fielded incomplete squads.
Juliann Wobbrock, a seventh-grader, again led the NRHEG girls, taking 16th in 21:07.50. Following for the Panthers: Ella Jeno, 21st, 21:52.07; Holly Bartness, 52nd, 23:05.39; Annabelle Petsinger, 71st, 24:41.13; Madison Corkill, 100th, 27:04.46; and Amelia Duryee, 107th, 29:23.94.
The first-place finisher was Valerie Quast, a sophomore from Mankato Loyola who clocked 19:03.67 for 5 kilometers.
Mountain Lake took the girls’ team title with 82 points, followed by Mankato Loyola with 86, GFW 125, Sibley East 140, Maple River 192, St. James 194, Martin County West 210, WEM 224, Lester Prairie 260, NRHEG 261, Blue Earth Area 269, LeSueur-Henderson 282, LCWM 303, USC 332, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 338, Norwood-Young America 340, MVL 436. USC was incomplete.
The top two teams and top six boys and girls not on that team advanced to state Saturday, Nov. 4 at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course.