By: Sheila Crowley
Staff Writer
Monday’s breeze didn’t put a damper on the drive of the Murray County Central/Fulda cross country runners.
Mountain Lake was the sight of this year’s Red Rock Conference meet. The picturesque soundings of the fall colors, lake and lush golf course grounds provided the surroundings for the teams from Mountain Lake, Murray County Central/Fulda, Heron Lake-Okabena, SW Mn Christian and Ellsworth.
Freshman Morgan Gehl was fore-runner going into the race. She got out front early and didn’t let up. Gehl garnered her strength and cruised to a first place finish. Gehl’s time (19:02) was a full two minutes better than the next closest competitor – Mikayla Johnson who finished the race at 21:07. Ryanna Schreier was the next Rebel to come through the chute posting a time of 22:04 for 5th place overall finish. Three places behind her was Emily Kathman clocking 22:34.70 for ninth overall. Audra Homandberg, and Ella Veldkamp – both from SW Mn Christian, separated Kathman from Rebels Faith Bose (22:56.90) and Josie Harms (23:05.70) earning them the 11th and 12th spot in the race. Khloe Gehl earned the 23rd place with her time of 24:14.50 while Lily Schmahl who was the last of the Rebel squad to complete the course earned the 45th of the 56 runners in the race with her time of 28:10.
MCC tallied 37 points to earn the conference title. Behind the Rebels came SW Mn Christian with 41. In third place as Heron Lake-Okabena – 73, fourth went to Adrian – 84 and closing out the team competition was Mt. Lake’s 115.
The top competitors earned all-conference medals.
WOMENS
1. Morgan Gehl, MCC
2. Mikayla Johnson, SWC
3. Cheyenne Schaffer, HLO
4. Moriah Bullerman, Adrian
5. Ryanna Schreier, MCC
6. Skylar Fisher, HLO
7. Annika Brands, SWC
8. Emily Kathman, MCC
9. Audra Homanberg, SWC
10. Ella Veldkamp, SWC
Fifty-nine runners headed out for the boys 5K race. MCC’s Justin Clarke held stride with Brady Henning, Adrian, throughout the majority of the race. As they headed down the hill on the last stretch towards the chute Henning was able to push forward and passed Clarke to earn him third place (17:23.20) with Clarke coming in fourth with his time of 17:34.80. Mt. Lake’s held the first two spots in the race with Nathan Runck (16:57.10) taking first place while Dalton Piotter crossed the line in second (17:14.10).
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