Moved up to varsity for the previous meet, seventh grader Charlotte Meyer finished in second place, only behind teammate Valerie Quast, and the Crusader girls won the Valley Conference cross country meet on Monday.
Not to be outdone on the Madelia golf course, the Crusader boys also took home the conference title.
Quast’s time was 19:15.38. Meyer’s 20:09.97 finish was over a minute better than the third-place runner and more than 70 seconds less than her effort at Sleepy Eye on October 5.
Lily Phillips came in third of the 32 runners for the Crusaders and fourth overall with a 22:17.09.
Rounding out the Loyola/Cleveland/St. Clair top five were Teya Waagner with a 23:58.27 for 11th place and Izzy Endres with a 24:02.80 for 12th place.
The Martin County West girls took second place with a score of 37, nine more points than the Crusaders. LCWM/Nicollet had 65 points. Madelia/Truman/GHEC did not field a complete team.
St. Clair joining Loyola-Cleveland this year has provide a boost to the Crusaders.
With a 16:48.20, Soren Kelly finished second among 40 boy runners and 28.5 seconds behind the winner. Sam Vetter was fourth with a 17:15.20, and Nathan Strobel (above) was sixth with a 17:42.70.
“My placement was good, my effort was good, but my time was not where I wanted it to be,” Strobel said.
Kyle Zimmerman came in seventh with a 17:48.10.
Finishing in the top 10, all four earned All-Conference honors.
Completing the Crusader top five, TJ Waldron got eclipsed down the stretch and finished in 18:14.40 for 11th place and an All-Conference Honorable Mention.
Waldron, who was disappointed to miss All-Conference by one slot, is still shooting for sub 18 minutes this year.
LCWM/Nicollet team finished second with 57 points, 27 more than the Crusaders. Madelia/Truman/GHEC was third with 66, and Martin County West was fourth with 81.
Also for the Crusader girls, Charlotte Kirschner was 12th with a 24:07.13, Giesel McCAbe was 13rth 2ith a 24:08.92, Hannah Coudron was 15th with a 24:57.62, Page Daley was 17th with a 25:04.45, Jewel Factor was 24th with a 26:08.14, and Cora Koester was 28th with a 27:34.54
Pushing the Crusader boys along were Andrew Buboltz in 15th place with an 18:47.00), Mitchell Buboltz in 16th place with a 19:16.50, Rollie Matejcek in 17th place with a 19:26.60), Elijah Bailey in 26th place with a 20:37.00, Andrew Tieva in 28th place with a 21:03.70, Jackon Bilitz in 29th place with a 21:08.30, and Elijah Mons in 36th place with a 22:42.60.
In the middle school 3200, the Crusaders’ Matthew Soupir was first of 18 runners with a 12:43.50. Seventh grader Reece Nelson was third with a 13:11.70. Charlie Maxfield was ninth with a 14:32.70.
Sleepy Eye meet
In Sleepy Eye’s Eagles Park, Kelly finished in second place among the 101 varsity boys to pace the Crusaders to a first-first place finish among nine teams. With a score of 33, they bested Mountain Lake area by seven points.
Sam Vetter was third (17:31.90), Strobel was seventh (17:57.20), Zimmerman was ninth (18:00.40), and Waldron was 12th (18:12.80) to round out the Crusader top five.
With a 19:52.90, Quast was first among 90 girl runners. Meyer, in her first varsity 5K, was third with a 21:21.30 finish.
Rounding out the Crusader girls top five, which placed fourth among 10 teams, were Phillips in 18th place with a 23:30.00, Gisele McCabe in 26th place with a 24:20.20 and Daly in 28th place with a 24:30.40. Factor was 50th with a 26:28.50.
In the middle school boys 1600, Nelson was 10th of 23 runners with a 6:42.60 finish. The winning time was 5:41.70. In the middle school girls 1600, Kenzie Kortuem was 15th of 23 runners with an 8:00.10. The winning time was 6:36.30.
NRHEG Invite
At the NRHEG invite on Riverview Golf Course on September 19th, the Crusader boys came up with the trifecta. Kelly won with a 17:10.30. Vetter showed with a 17:49.80, and Zimmerman placed with an 18:01.00. There were 60 competitors.
Waldron was fifth with an 18:30.80, and Strobel was 12th with a 19:7.00 to make the Crusader front five.
Teamwise, the Crusaders were way out front with 18 points. Austin Pacelli was second with 64.
Maxfield finished 60th with a 36:06.90.
In the varsity girls race, Quast was first with a 20:08.80, Koester was ninth with 22:50.60, Daly was 24th with a 25:35.10, Waagner was 29th with a 26:12.20, and Factor was 31st with a 26:34.40. Among the eight teams, the Crusader girls were fourth.
With a 7:48.10, Meyer ran away with the middle school girls 2000-m race. Endries was second with an 8:10.30, Phillips was third with an 8:10.70, McCabe was sixth with an 8:35.50, and Coudron was ninth with a 9:10.20.
In the middle school boys 2000-m competition, Nelson was 11th with an 8:26.10. The winning time among the 30 runners was 7:00.20.
The Crusaders will return to action on Thursday when they vie for a trip to state at the section tournament, which will be held at Norwood Young America's Baylor Park.
Charlotte Meyer was second at the conference meet. She was running only her second varsity 5K.
Jewel Factor on the Madelia course.
TJ Waldron rounded out the Crusader first-place team effort at Madelia.
Elijah Mons on the Madelia course.
Reece Nelson was third in the 3200 at Madelia.
Charlie Maxfield on the Madelia course.
The conference champion boys team. (Photo courtesy of coach Landon Javens)
The conference champion girls team. (Photo courtesy of coach Landon Javens)