The Blue Earth Area cross country teams saw their first official action of the 2024 season under breezy, sunny and warm conditions when they headed west to Fairmont on Aug. 23 to compete in the Early-Bird Invite.

BEA Boys

The Buccaneer boys placed sixth in the seven-team field. St. Peter came in first followed by Mountain Lake in second, St. James in third, Tri-City United in fourth and Fairmont fifth. Heron Lake-Okabena came in seventh place behind the Bucs.

The 4,000-meter race saw Devin Haase be the first Buc to cross the finish line. His time of 16:31.9 was good for 24th place.

“Devin’s time was almost a minute faster than last year at this distance,” BEA coach Peter Koenig said. “In fact, several of our men ran faster this year at the 4K distance. Marcus was two minutes faster, Gibson ran two and a half minutes faster and Oliver improved by three minutes from last year. That was a great way to start the season.”

Marcus Eckles finished 39th with a time of 18:17.1. Gibson Haase was 43rd in 18:29.5, Oliver Ankeny was 44th in 18:34.1, Samuel Bell was 58th in 21:29.5, Michael Vaske was 59th in 21:34.0 and Noah Hanson was 60th in 21:39.6.

“Our brand new runners, Noah, Michael and Sam, ran as a squad for most of the race,” Koenig commented. “Sam, a freshman, passed his junior teammates by just a few seconds.”

In the 2,000-meter junior high race, BEA’s Brayden Garlick ran to a 15th place finish in 9.00.1. Gus Ankeny was 20th in 9:45.3 and Harrison Patten was 32nd in 11:28.2.

Girls Results

The BEA girls had a full team for the first time in several years, according to Koenig.

“Aubrey (Woodwick) and Sidney (Eitzmann) are back and faster this year than last year at the same race,” Koenig shared. “Aubrey just missed getting a medal and Sidney had a fantastic kick in the last 200 meters to pass several people.”

St. Peter was also the top girls team with Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton claiming the runner-up spot.

Mountain Lake was third, Tri-City United fourth, Jackson County Central fifth, Fairmont sixth, St. James seventh, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial-Nicollet eighth and BEA finished ninth.

Woodwick’s time of 18:21.1 put her in 11th place, one spot away from a medal. Eitzmann completed the course in 19:33.4 to finish in 21st place.

Rounding out the BEA squad were April Garcia in 53rd place in 23:41.2, Makayla Ankeny in 54th place with a time of 23:43.6, Myla Eastman in 61st place with a time of 24:17.0 and Analiz Leal in 72nd place with a time of 29:36.3.

“It was an awesome first race for newcomer April with a third-place finish on the team,” Koenig noted. “Makayla and Myla both ran their first 4,000-meter races as varsity runners at a pace faster than last year’s 5,000-meter races. New runner Analiz pushed through a mentally tough first race and succeeded in making the distance.”

In the junior high race, Natalie Griffey scored a second-place finish with a time of 8:38.3. Seventh grader Sakura Harding ran her first competitive race ever and finished in 25th place with a time of 10:47.5.