Woodwick, Martinez lead BEA at Buc Invite
The rain held off and it turned out to be a great day for running at Riverside Town & Country Club for the Buc Invite cross country meet. The skies were sunny and the temperature was in the 60s.
The final team results were calculated by adding up the times of the top seven runners from each team.
Fairmont came out on top in the girls results with a team total of 151:13. St. James claimed second place in 169:04. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet was third in 170:33 and Blue Earth Area was fourth in 175:42.
Aubrey Woodwick was the top finisher for BEA for the second consecutive meet. Her time of 23:12 was good for 13th place. Sidney Eitzmann claimed 14th place with a time of 23:27.
After missing the previous cross county race last week, Calli Ferguson returned to action and finished 15th with the same time as Eitzmann, 23:27.
Lola Lundquist was the fourth Buc runner to finish. Her time of 24:35 was good for 20th place. Lauren Bleess clocked a time of 26:33 to take 25th place
Aubrey Hueper finished right behind Bleess in 26th place with a time of 26:34 and Elizabeth Jacobson recorded the final qualifying time for BEA at 27:36, which put her in 27th place.
Other runners for BEA included Leah Becker, Addison Smith, Hope Goette and Reagan Bromeland.
Becker was 30th in 29:30, Smith was 32nd in 29:36, Goette was 34th in 31:34 and Bromeland was 35th in 31:39.
Woodwick, Eitzmann, Ferguson, Lundquist, Bleess, Hueper and Bromeland all recorded personal-best times during the meet and Jacobson recorded her best time of the 2021 season.
On the boys side of the competition it was the St. James Saints who ran to the victory with a total team time of 126:59. LCWM/N finished second in 130:28, Fairmont was third in 133:26 and BEA was fourth in 170:27.
Angel Martinez ran his first sub 20-minute race of the year. His time of 19:48 was good for 23rd place.
Devin Haase ran a personal-best time of 20:57 to finish 29th. Marcus Eckles finished 37th in 24:58.
Seth Mathews took 38th in 25:55 followed by Gibson Haase, who finished 29th in 26:05.
Hayden Vereide and Eli Paz both had personal-best times at the meet.
Vereide’s time of 26:12 put him in 40th place while Paz was 41st in 26:18.
Aiden Donahue was 42nd in 27:39. Jerry Passe was 43rd in 28:51 and Shane Levenhagen was 44th in 30:07.
Both squads will compete in the Big South Conference Championship at Pipestone on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
BEA will host the Section 2A Championship at Riverside Town & Country Club on Thursday, Oct. 28, beginning at 4 p.m.
I-90 Invite
The Blue Earth Area cross country teams traveled 20 miles west to Fairmont to run in the I-90 Invite on Thursday, Oct. 7. The race was held at Cedar Creek Park under overcast skies with temperatures in the 70s.
The Buccaneer girls finished ninth out of 12 teams with a total of 222 points.
Mankato East placed first with 42 points and Belle Plaine nabbed the runner-up spot with 51.
Seventh grader Aubrey Woodwick, running in her first varsity race, set the pace for BEA with a time of 23:22 to finish 33rd.
Sidney Eitzmann and Lola Lunquist also ran their first-ever 5,000-meter races. Eitzmann finished 54th with a time of 25:22 while Lundquist was 58th with a time of 25:36.
Lauren Bleess turned in the best time of her career at 27:30, which put her in 76th place.
Elizabeth Jacobson was 89th in 28:36, Aubrey Hueper was 92nd in 29:07, Hope Goette was 93rd in 30:47 and Leah Becker was 99th in 35:12.
On the boys side of the meet, the Buccaneers finished 11th.
Angel Martinez was the top finisher for BEA with a time of 20:43 to place 79th.
Devin Haase, Marcus Eckles, Aiden Donahue and Gibson Haase all recorded personal best times during the meet.
Devin Haase finished with a time of 21:37 to finish 93rd. Eckles had a time of 24:50 to finish 126th. Donahue was 129th with a time of 25:37 and Gibson Haase was 130th in 25:40.
Shane Levenhagen’s time of 27:19 put him in 135th place. Eli Paz finished 136th in 27:53 and Jerry Passe was 137th in 27:56.