Area athletes compete at Tri-Center Invite
Whether it was the AHSTW Vikings, the Exira-EHK Spartans, the HCHS Cyclones, or the IKM-Manning Wolves, all four schools had a strong showing Tuesday at the Tri-Center Invite.
With the Vikings top runner in Sophomore Bella Lamp on the shelf, Juniors Makenna Paulsen and Ava Paulsen set the tone taking 25th and 30th place finishes with times of 23:05.70 and 23:30.06.
“Makenna really ran great last night,” said Viking Head Coach Jackson Renberg. “She has continued to be a consistent cog on our team and run really good paces. She had a personal best for the season and beat some really good runners last night. Makenna finishing 25th at that meet where you had some really good runners is a very good accomplishment. Ava has also been really consistent throughout the meets this season. She was feeling a little illness and tight last night, but she powered through it and still ran a solid race overall. Both of them have been good runners for our programs since they were in junior high and we are lucky to have them on our team.”
The Cyclone girls finished in first place with 36 points, 52 ahead of Treynor who came in second place with 88. Senior Lindsey Sonderman came in first overall with a time of 18:49.06, averaging 6:03.4 per mile, beating out Allysen Johnsen of Logan-Magnolia, who finished second with 20:30.87.
“We finished first, so we’re happy with the results,” said Cyclone Head Coach Zach Klaassen. “I thought she [Sonderman] did an awesome job and just attacked the hills. You take off and have a nice downhill start, but after that first quarter mile, it’s a big trek to that back corner and I thought she dominated in that area especially considering she separated herself from the group by about 30 seconds within that first 1,200 meters.”
The Spartans top runner for the girls was Michelle Wilson, who came in 19th overall with 22:15.33.
“Michelle ran a very balanced race,” said Spartan Head Coach Kevin Brown. “She's beginning to chip away to get back to where she was last season. I am also impressed with how much improvement Leah Boysen has made this season. She improved by over three and half minutes on the same course last year.
For the boys, Austin Rasmussen took sixth place with 17:55.25, just barely over a minute behind the winner, Gunner Wagner of Woodbine with 16:45.74.
“The difference between last season and this season is that Austin believes he belongs in the lead packs of each race,” Brown said. “The mileage and workouts we have done has put him in a prime position at this point of the season to continue running personal bests on each course.”
The Wolves had two boys medal, including Camden Morris and Isaac Blankman, along with two girls in Raegan Garrison and Emily Albertsen.
“I think our medalists had solid races today for both the boys and the girls,” said Wolves Head Coach Robert Cast. “I was pleased with the boys’ third place finish out of 11 teams, but I feel we have the ability to get that second place spot for sure.”
The Vikings and Cyclones return to action Saturday morning and the Harlan Golf & Country Club competing against 17 other schools. The Spartans and Wolves will head to ACGC High School Thursday for their next event going against 10 other schools.