Runck, Piotter, Garcia de la Cruz, Blomgren finish in top 15
With four Mountain Lake Area (MLA) Wolverine boys cross country runners hitting the chute in the top 15, the squad earned a second-place finish in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Section 3A Meet, held at the Madison Golf Club in Madison on a cold and windy Thursday, October 26 – and the opportunity to compete at next Saturday’s (November 4) MSHSL State Class A Meet at Saint Olaf College in Northfield.
The team finished as section runner-up out of 18 with 84 points. Winning the title was the team from Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd (LQPV/D-B) with 64.
Churning his way to an individual third place finish was MLA’s Nathan Runck, a senior at Red Rock Central. Runck earned the section bronze, in this his first year participating in the sport, with a time of 17:25.21. The winning club, LQPV-D-B, had its first two runners in the 1-2 spots, Keiser Freetly topping the field of 143 runners in the 5000 meter run with a time of 17:04.54. Teammate Mikey Kvaal finished seconde with 17:12.52.
Also finishing in the top eight was Wolverine Dalton Piotter, a Red Rock Central junior, completing the 5K in 17:41.21.
Two additional MLA boys clocked in the top 15 – Emilio Garcia de la Cruz, 13th with a time of 18:02.64 and Ryan Blomgren, in 15th with 18:10.81. Capping the scoring for the Maroon-and-Silver (the top five finishes are used in scoring; lowest score wins) was Emmanuel Fentanez, coming in 51st at 19:33.
Rounding out MLA’s runners were Seth Klassen, 80th with 20:32 and Logan Pankonin, 85th at 20:48.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with how the guys stepped up and competed,” shared an exited Head Coach Kyle Blomgren. “Nathan Runck competed hard with the two kids from LQPV/D-B. Dalton Piotter ran in a pretty nice pack and had a strong surge at the finish to claim 6th. Ryan Blomgren and Emilio Garcia de la Cruz ran most of the race together and looked strong. We had our top four in the op 15 spots. Emilio and Emmanuel Fentanez both stepped up and finished well ahead of where pre-meet predictions had them placed.”
Wolverine girls make strides
Reflecting on the girls 5K run, Coach Blomgren saw the girls runners making strides. “For the girls, we had a couple nice packs. Mercedes Saengosoth started slow, but caught up to Anika Fast, and they ran together most of the last mile. They also may have gotten misplaced at the finish line. Tiegan Meyer ran well through two miles but had to really tough it out the last mile. Kate Janzen and Olivia Klassen surged nicely in the last ½ mile to pick up a few spots.”
Winning the girls race, pacing the field of 135, was, as expected, Murray Country Central’s Morgan Gehl, covering the course in 19:06.48.
First runner in for the Wolverines was Saengosoth in 57th with a time of 23:05. On her heels was Fast, 58th at 23:06. Additional MLA scorers were Meyer, 89th at 24:14; Janzen, 92nd, 24:30 and Klassen, 93rd, 24:31. Rounding out the girls runners were Riley Schroeder in 123rd with 26:32 and Sara Quiring, 126th at 26:44.
The team winner for the girls meet was the team from Luverne with 56 points. LQPV-D-B was second with 61. Both of those complete teams will run at the state meet.
With the updated girls results, the Wolverines finished in 14.th.
The top two boys and girls teams, along with the top eight individual runners in each race, along with additional state qualifiers (top eight individuals not on either of the pair of qualifying teams continue their 2017 cross country seasons at state.
