Courtney Grandgenett runs stride for stride with a runner during the Half Moon Invite held Aug. 22 in Wells. To see more photographs of this event, log on to http://cu.faribaultcountyregister.com

In a stellar field, the Blue Earth Area girls cross country team finished fourth at the Wolverine Invitational held Wednesday in Mountain Lake.

The Class A No. 10-ranked Bucs tallied 115 points, behind rival and No. 6-ranked Fairmont (91).

The Class A No. 1-ranked Adrian girls took first with 45 points, outdistancing Class AA No. 11-ranked Waseca (84).

BEA displayed its “pack running” with their top six finishing within one minute of each other.

Leading the way was Courtney Grandgenett with her 10th-place medal-winning time of 16:26 (10-10-10).

Rylee Wagner covered the 4,000-meter course in 16:49 to nab 18th (20-20-18), while Marissia Hagedorn was six spots back with 16:59 (24-21-24).

Finishing 30th overall was LaNay Walker in 17:13 (32-31-30), two seconds faster than Mandy Warmka’s 32nd placing with 17:15 (37-36-32).

Miranda Murray took 37th with a time of 17:23 (41-40-37) and Lindsey Ankeny posted a 17:43 that was good enough for 45th (40-44-45).

Other BEA results:

(4,000 meters)

97. Courtney Dunbar 20:50 (84-95-97)

102. Kelly Aukes 21:20 (99-102-102)

109. Niki Welder 22:17 (104-108-109)

116. Taylor Swanson 23:25 (111-114-116)

120. Makenzie Jenkins 24:06 (109-117-120)

121. Amanda Pecholt 24:08 (113-121-121)

122. Mary Johnson 24:24 (110-119-122)

125. Emily Clement -26:28 (115-119-125)

126. Mercedes Briseno 30:00 (116-120-126)

128. Moira Jans 30:34 (118-121-128)

Team Results:

Adrian 45, Waseca 84, Fairmont 91, Blue Earth Area 115, MCC 177, MLBO 192, JCC 209, Windom 232, Worthington 246, USC/AC 250, LCWM/N 314, TMB 397, four others incomplete

Junior high results:

(1,600 meters)

Anna Aukes 7:29 (19th)

Haley Mensing 7:54 (27th)

The Buc girls fell seven seconds shy of a second-place finish at the season-opening Half Moon Invite held Aug. 22 in Wells.

Team scores were determined by adding the times of each squad’s top five runners.

Class A No. 6-ranked Fairmont took runnerup honors with 87:38, with the No. 10-ranked Bucs right behind with 87:45. The Waseca girls finished first in 86:29. BEA’s varsity lineup had six runners within a minute of each other and totaled a team time 1:45 faster than last year.

The first BEA runner to finish the 4K course was Courtney Grandgenett with 17:03, followed by LaNay Walker (17:21).

Marissia Hagedorn covered the course in 17:42, while Miranda Murray was seven seconds behind with 17:49. Running injured, Rylee Wagner posted a time of 17:50 for the final counting time.

Mandy Warmka (18:05) and Lindsey Ankeny (18:22) completed the varsity lineup.

Other BEA results:

Junior varsity

4K- approximately 50 runners

Kelly Aukes – 20:42

Courtney Dunbar – 21:30

Niki Welder – 21:35

Mary Johnson – 24:15

Taylor Swanson – 24:40

Amanda Pecholt – 25:46

Emily Clement – 27:56

Moira Jans – 16:08 for 2K

Mercedes Briseno – DNF

Junior High

1 mile- approximately 40 runners

Sierra Halvorson – 6:59 (2nd)

Haley Mensing – 7:42 (3rd)

Anna Aukes – 7:44 (4th)

Varsity team results (sum of top 5 times):

Waseca 86:29, Fairmont 87:38, Blue Earth Area 87:45, USC/AC 94:26, Albert Lea 96:07, St. James 96:55, MVL/New Ulm and Martin Luther incomplete.