The 33 mph wind gusts that ripped across the Winthrop Golf Club on Monday pushed Charlotte Meyer’s 90-lb frame around a bit, and the hairpin turns made the course difficult for her as well.
“It was really hard,” said Meyer. “I felt like I was going to get blown over.”
But despite the obstacles, the freshman didn’t have a ton of trouble winning the Tomahawk-Valley Conference cross country girls varsity meet. The Mankato Loyola/Cleveland/St. Clair/Mankato Christian Academy girls as a whole didn’t have an issue winning the team competition either, and the Crusader boys ran away with their team competition as well.
The victories set up the section meet at Baylor Park north of Norwood Young America today (Thursday) where the girls race starts at 3:45 and boys race at 4:30. Both teams are trying to finish in the top two and repeat repeat their trip to the state meet.
While the conference meet was originally scheduled for last Tuesday, rain then pushed it back six days.
“It was a good effort,” said head coach Casey Olson. “I’m really happy with it. We held back a little bit for the first couple of miles because with the postponement of this meet, we have another championship meet in three days, and we didn’t want to risk pushing too hard today. So we weren’t worried about time but just competing in a championship race and cutting our teeth a little bit, and I think we did pretty well.”
Meyer turned in a 19:17.80 for the gold. Teammate Valerie Quast was second with a 19:28.50, and Quast’s sister Lila Quast was third with a PR 20;21.60. Rounding out the Crusader girl top five, Maddy Seiwert was seventh with a 21:58.50, and Riley Quigly was 10th with a 22:12.80.
Pushing them along the course were Kate Daly in 11th place with a 22:18.30 and Gisele McCabe in 15th place with a 22:37.40. There were 37 competing.
As a team, the Crusaders scored 21 points. In second place was Springfield/Cedar Mountain with 64 points. Rounding out the field were Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin (97 points and GFW (97 points).
In the boys race, Soren Kelly’s 16:51.10 finish was almost a minute less the second-place runner. Mitchell Buboltz was third with an 19:08.90, and Francis Bierer was fourth with an 18:26.70. Griffin Rutz made his way into the Crusader top five with an 18:31.80 finish that got him in sixth place. Rollie Matejcek was 13th with a 19:04.10.
In support, Andrew Tieva was 17th with a 19:51.80, and Reece Nelson was 20th with a 19:59.50.
As a team, the Crusader boys scored 27 points while second-place Madelia had 61. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s/Public had 84, Springfield/Cedar Mountain had 102, Lester Prairie had 147, and Wabasso had 172.
The JV races were at the same time as the varsity races, with the placings starting after the varsity top seven.
For the girls, there were nine in the race, and the Crusaders took the top five spots: Molly Koester was first with a 22:50, Brooks Waagner was second with a 23:18.10, Charlotte Kirschner was third with a 23:21.90, Lily Phillips was fourth with a 24:02.30, and Teya Wagner was fifth with a season best 25:56.50. Harper Rutz came in eighth with a 27:59.60.
For the boys, there were 14 in the race, and the Crusaders were in the top five slots as well. Jack Green was first with a 20:26.00, Grayson Fenske-Deichman was second with a 20:50.70, Luke Kortuem was third with a 20:58.60, Jackson Bilitz was fourth with a 21:07.30, and Elijah Mons was fifth with a 22:48.20. Jax Leagjeld was 10th with a 26:48.80.
Six competed in the junior high girls 2500-m race. The winning time was 13:04.50. Crusader Eden Koester was third with a 14:43.80 while her teammate Ella Holub was fifth with a 16:21.90.
In the junior high boys race there were 13 competing. Crusader Ethan Beenken was first with an 11:07.80 while his teammate Luke Phillips was second with an 11:56.20. Andrew Bales was seventh with a 12:45.50, Jase Blaschko was ninth with a 13:24.40, and Bryce Monson was 11th with a14:50.90.
After the meet, awards were presented to the champion Crusader boys and girls varsity teams, Meyer and Kelly for being the individual champions, Valerie Quast and Kelly for Athletes of the Year and Olson for Coach of the Year.
In addition, girls All-Conference awards went to Meyer, the Quast sisters. Seiwert and Quigly while boys All-Conference award went to Kelly, Buboltz, Bierer, and Rutz. To make All-Conference, runners had to finish in the top 25 percent.
All-Conference Honorable Mentions were Daly and McCabe for the girls and Matejcek and Tieva for the boys. To be an All-Conference Honorable Mention, runners had to finish in the between the top 25 percent and top 40 percent.
The Crusaders were coming off meets in Madelia on October 9 and in Sleepy Eye on October 2.
The Crusaders' top seven runners and two alternates will make the trip to NYA today.
Lake Crystal/Wellcome Memorial Meet, Madelia Golf Course, October 9
It was business as usual for the Crusaders on October 9 when they ran on the Madelia golf course.
In the girls varsity meet, Meyer was first among the 54 competing with an 18:41.47 finish. The second-place runner, Sophie Stencel from Maple River was 8. 33 seconds back. Valerie Quast was third with a 19:02.75, while her sister Lila Quast was fourth with a 20:23.40.
Rounding out the Crusader top five, Quigley was sixth with a PR 21:09.27, and Siewert was seventh with a 21:22.26.
Poking them, Daly was 12th with a season-best 21:54.85, Brooks Waagner was 15th with a PR 22:17.92, Koester was 16th with a 22:19.06, Kirschner was 17th with a 22:47.33, McCabe was 19th with a 22:52.47, and Rutz was 42nd with a PR 27:36.69.
With 21 points, the girls ran away with the meet. Springfield/Cedar Mountain totaled 65 points, Martin County West/Butterfield-Odin had 102 points, GFW had 107 points, Maple River had 118 points, and MVL had 119 points.
Almost a minute and a half ahead of the silver finisher, Kelly won the boys race with a 16:15.25 finish. There were 76 competing. Buboltz was second with a 17:41.12, Bierer was eighth with a PR 18:09.43, Rutz was 13th with a PR 18:31.08, and Matejcek was 16th with a season best 18:54.88.
Pushing the front five, Green was 17th with a PR 19:07.87, Nelson was 22nd with a 19:39.65, Tieva was 24th with a 19:45.86, Bilitz was 27th with a 19:54.95, Kortuem was 35th with a PR 20:14.12, Fenske-Deichman was 37th with a 20:32.66, and Mons was 62nd with a 22:54.30.
With 38 points, 22 better than second place MVL, the Crusader boys won the race. With 87 points, Madelia was third. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s/Public was fourth with 92 points, Springfield/Cedar Mountain was fifth with 11th with 118 points, MCW/BO was sixth with 148 points, and Maple River was seventh with 180 points.
There were 13 runners in the junior high girls 2500-m race. The winning time was 11:05.37. Ella Holub came in 11th with a PR 14:16.58.
Just 0.05 seconds behind the winner in the junior high boys 2500, Benken took second among the 21 runners with a PR 9:39.12 finish. Phillips was fourth with a PR 9:53.50, Bales was fifth with a PR 10:13.34, Blaschko was 13th with a PR 11:12.80, and Monson was 17th with a 12:14.27 finish.
Sleepy Eye Meet, Eagles Park bike trail, October 2
On the Eagles Park bike trail on October 2, both the boys and girls teams won.
“It was another hot day, which was magnified by the blacktop on the bike trail we raced on,” said Olson. “Despite that, I thought the athletes competed hard. We saw five more PRs and one more season best. We wanted to attack the first mile, and we were able to do that successfully.”
With an 18:52.3 finish, Meyer beat out 55 competitors for the gold. Valarie Quast was second with a 19:27.4. Rounding out the Crusader top five, Quigley was fifth with a 21:23.7, Lila Quast was eighth with a 21:51.7, and Kirschner was ninth with a PR 21:58.8.
At their heels, Seiwert was 12th with a 22:25.2, Daly was 16th with a 22:31.6. Brooks Waagner was 17th with a 22:58.0, McCabe was 18th with a 23:02.4, and Koester was 21st with a 23:16.4.
With 25 points, the Crusader girls won the meet. Mountain Lake had 57 points, Springfield/Cedar Mountain had 66 points, and Minnesota Valley Lutheran had 90 points.
“The girls ran very strong today,” Olson said. “They ran together in packs, and we had some girls step up in new spots, which was really encouraging to see.”
Completing the course in 16:24.6, over a minute in front of the second-place runner, Kelly won the boys race. Buboltz was ninth among the 72 runners with an 18:20.9. Bierer was 16th with a 19:32.0, Nelson was 18th with a 19.37.3, and Matejcek was tenth with a 19:46.0.
Pushing the front five, Green was 24th with a 20:14.0, Kortuem was 25th with a 20:15.0, Eli Pyan was 30th with a 20:26.3, Tieva was 34th with a 20:45.1, Rutz was 38th with a 20:58.6, Fenske-Deichman was 45th with a 21:39.3, and Leagjeld was 66th with a season-best 25:06.6.
As the team, the Crusader boys were second with 63 points, 21 more than winner MVL. Mountain Lake-Area Comfrey was third with 95 points, LCWM-Nicollet was fifth with 111 points, Springfield/Cedar Mountain was sixth with 124 points, and Lester Prairie was seventh with 173 points.
“The boys are a little banged up and sick right now, so once we get healthy, I think we'll be right where we need to be,” Olson said.
In the junior high girls 1600, Koester was 15th with an 8:11. 8, and Holub was 18th with a 8:47.2. The winning time was 6:47.2, and 21 runners competed.
In the junior high boys 1600, 2.3 seconds behind the winner, Beenken was second among the 26 runners with a 5:50.4 finish. Bales was 11th with a 6:52.0 finish, Blaschko was 17th with a 7:16.4 finish, and Monson was 21st with an 8:03.5 finish.
This was a good meet to see where we stand within tough conference and section competition, so I'm happy seeing the results.,” Olson said. “It'll be a fun last month of the season, and we're hoping for some cooler weather to help bring those times down even further.”
Above: The conference meet in Winthrop was the end of a high school cross country career for Elijah Mons.
The Conference-Winning girls team, from L-R: Ella Holub, Gisele McCabe, Teya Waagner, Lily Phillips, Brooks Waagner, Lila Quast, Valerie Quast, Molly Koester, Charlotte Meyer, Riley Quigley, Charlotte Kirschner, Harper Rutz, Missing is Kate Daly.
The Conference-Winning boys team, from L-R: Jackson Bilitz, Griffin Rutz, Rollie Matejcek, Francis Bierer, Jax Leagjeld, Mitchell Buboltz, Jack Green, Soren Kelly, Elijah Mons, Grayson Fenske-Deichman, Andrew Tieva, Reece Nelson. Missing is Luke Kortuem.
Jase Blaschko at the conference meet in Winthrop
Harper Rutz at the conference meet in Winthrop
Charlotte Meyer (right) at the conference meet in Winthrop
Luke Kortuem at the conference meet in Winthrop
Jax Leagjeld at the conference meet in Winthrop
Griffin Rutz at the conference meet in Winthrop
Reece Nelson at the conference meet in Winthrop
Crusader girls with their first-place conference trophy. Also in the photo is Casey Olson, who was named the conference Coach of the Year. (photo courtesy of Casey Olson)
Crusader boys with their first-place conference trophy. Also in the photo is Casey Olson, who was named the conference Coach of the Year. (photo courtesy of Casey Olson)
Crusaders at the start of the varsity girls race at Madelia (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer)
Crusader girls medalists at the Madelia meet; at left is Charlotte Meyer. Third from left is Harper Rutz. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer).
Crusader boys medalists at the Madelia meet; On the right in the back row is Griffin Rutz. In front on the left is Reece Nelson. (photo courtesy of Bree Meyer).
Harper Rutz makes her way down the bike trail in Sleepy Eye. (photo courtesy of Casey Olson)