Fairmont wins Buc Invite

Rainy, breezy and nasty. Not even those weather conditions could put a damper on the Buc Invite held Thursday at the Riverside Town & Country Club in Blue Earth.
The Buc girls and boys both finished second in their final regular season meet behind Fairmont’s two state-ranked squads.
The girls have closed the gap on the No. 6-ranked Cardinals.
Fairmont had a team-winning total of 116:57, while the Bucs top seven runners totaled 117:58. St. James was next with 124:44 and Lyle-Pacelli was incomplete.
The No. 9-ranked Cardinal boys had a total time of 129:10, while BEA’s times added up to 133:03. St. James was right behind the Bucs with 134:45 and Lyle-Pacelli finished with 152:43.
In Heat C, Marissia Hagedorn posted a third-place time of 16:08 in the 4,000-meter race, followed by Courtney Grandgenett in fourth place with a time of 16:17 and Rylee Wagner in fifth with 16:22
LaNay Walker was the top finisher in Heat B, taking third in 17:04. Mandy Warmka was fourth with 17:10 and Meghan Mittelstadt claimed fifth in 17:34.
BEA’s Lindsey Ankeny was second in Heat A with a time of 17:21. Cassie Thompson took seventh with 18:41, while Sierra Halvorson was eighth in 18:42, MacKenzie Determan 10th in 19:00 and Signe Olson 11th with 19:10.
For the boys, Riley Holmseth was the first Buc runner to finish the 5,000-meter course in Heat C with a sixth-place time of 18:12. Teammate Jonas Hamperl took seventh in the heat with a time of 18:45 and Aaron Wilhelmi was clocked in 18:59 to claim 10th.
Brandon Christians grabbed third-place in Heat B with 18:26. Jake Zebedee was sixth in the heat finishing the race in 18:59 and Jason Mertens’ time of 20:25 was good enough for eighth.
The Bucs Mike Ankeny took second in Heat A with 19:26.
Wade Wilhelmi was next with a seventh-place time of 20:33, followed by Korey Frandle in eighth with 20:36 and Alvin Goraczkowski’s 10th place finish in 21:10.
The Bucs will next compete in the Section Meet on Thursday at Cedar Creek Park in Fairmont.
The meet was scheduled to be held at Riverside Town & Country Club but had to be switched to a new location because of water system being installed at the golf course.
Junior varsity boys
(3,200 meters)
Hans Kittleson 12:47, 5th; Nick Lein 13:14, 8th; Isaac Vasquez 13:35; Jordan Leitzke 13:54, 11th; Falko Grath 14:22, 16th; Luke Lovell 16:13, 21st; Jake Berndt 16:42, 23rd; Cage Johnson 18:33, 25th.
Junior varsity girls
(3,200 meters)
Kelly Aukes 14:39, 5th; Athena Peterson 14:50, 8th; Autumn Foster 15:25, 13th; Bridget Moore 15:33, 14th; Amanda Pecholt 15:55, 15th; Anna Aukes 16:03, 19th; Brittany Rochefort 16:13, 21st; Rowan Hacken 16:16, 22nd; Non Cherdchoochart 1625, 23rd; Moira Jans 16:30, 25th; Taylor Swanson 16:47, 26th; Meredith Hagedorn 16:51, 28th; Mary Johnson 17:31, 29th; Lauren Thompson 18:19, 31st; Bess Clement 18:26, 32nd; Emily Clement 18:27, 33rd.