Meghan Middlestadt, Mandy Warmka

They’re off and running and the boys and girls cross country teams got off to a good start at the Wolverine Invite held Sept. 2 at Mountain Lake Golf Course.

The Buc boys finished sixth overall with 168 points, behind first-place Waseca (55), Jackson County Central (64), Fairmont (79), Adrian (118) and Worthington (147).

On the girls side, Waseca again captured first-place with 35 points. BEA was seventh with 181, behind second-place Fairmont (90), Adrian (94), Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin (152), Worthington (161) and Windom (164).

In the boys 5,000 meters varsity race, Riley Holmseth edged out teammate Aaron Wilhelmi for 24th place.

Holmseth crossed the finish line in 19:05, only one second ahead of Wilhelmi.

Riley Holmseth

Jonas Hamperl was 33rd with 19:34, followed by Abi Vasquez in the 41st spot with 20:12 and Jake Zebedee with the 45th-place time of 20:24.

The next BEA runners were spread out in the field.

Jason Mertens took 66th in 21:23, while Hans Kittleson was 99th with 22:53 and Jordan Leitzke 129th with a time of 27:24.

The Buc girls were led by Courtney Grandgenett, who covered the 4,000-meter course in 16:28 to grab 11th place.

LaNay Walker was clocked in 17:20 to finish 29th, while Rylee Wagner was 46th with a time of 17:59.

The next three BEA runners were within three seconds of each other.

Marissia Hagedorn’s 18:03 was good enough for 47th, ahead of Meghan Mittelstadt at 48th with a 18:05 and Mandy Warmka’s 50th-place finish in 18:06.

MacKenzie Determan posted a time of 20:14 to finish 88th.

The Bucs will travel to Montgomery on Thursday for the Redbird Invitational, which is considered the largest cross country meet in southern Minnesota.

Other BEA girls varsity results:

106. Kelly Aukes, 22:21.

110. Cassie Thompson, 23:01.

111. Amanda Pecholt, 23:02.

113. Bridget Moore, 23:06.

114. April Royer, 23:07.

116. Taylor Swanson, 23:28.

117. Nok Cherdchoochart, 23:37.

122. Mary Johnson, 24:42.

129. Lauren Thompson, 26:48.

130. Moira Jans, 26:53.

131. Emily Clement, 30:16.

Boys teams results:

Waseca 55, Jackson County Central 64, Fairmont 79, Adrian 118, Worthington 147, BEA 168, Maple River 260, United South Central/Alden-Conger 277, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicolett 297, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 299, Marin County West 315, Murray County Central 339, Windom 420, Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin 422.

Girls teams results:

Waseca 35, Fairmont 90, Adrian 94, Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin 152, Worthington 161, Windom 164, BEA 181, Jackson County Central 197, United South Central/Alden-Conger 252, Martin County West 304, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 449, four other teams incomplete.