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Eitzmann cracks top-10 at JCC Invitational

By Kevin Mertens - Staff Writer | Sep 29, 2024

The Blue Earth Area cross country teams traveled to Jackson on Thursday, Sept. 19, to compete in the Jackson County Central Invitational which was held at the Jackson Golf Club.

The runners had to combat sunny, hot and humid conditions with only a slight breeze to aid in their comfort.

Boys Results

Luverne won the team portion of the event. Windom placed second, Worthington was third, Madelia fourth, Fairmont fifth, BEA sixth, JCC seventh and Huron Lake-Okabena eighth.

Devin Haase had the fastest time among BEA runners when he crossed the finish line in 21:09 to finish 23rd.

Marcus Eckles was 41st in 23:17. Also breaking the 24-minute mark were Oliver Ankeny with a time of 23:50 to place 44th and Gibson Haase with a time of 23:59 to finish 46th.

Sam Bell completed the course in 25:00 to take 53rd place, Michael Vaske was 55th in 23:35 and Noah Hanson was 58th in 26:27.

“The boys had a great team effort today,” Bucs’ coach Peter Koenig said. “The veteran runners led the pack with Devin, Marcus, Oliver and Gibby all having great races. Oliver is fresh back from a rest week dealing with some tendonitis so it is nice to see him back in the mix. Sam Bell showed some serious toughness on the hills running his first time at this course and dealing with some illness. Impressive PRs out of Michael and Noah to close out the boys’ run. It’s a testament to how much these new runners have improved that they could put up a PR on a tough and hilly course like this one.”

In the 2400-meter junior high race, Gus Ankeny finished 25th in 9:38 and Harrison Patten finished 35th in 13:33.

“Gus and Harrison ran a tough and gritty race on the hills with Gus coming out with a PR and Harrison showing some massive toughness on the hills,” Koenig commented.

Girls Results

Luverne was also the champion in the girls race. JCC was second, Worthington finished third, Fairmont was fourth and BEA was fifth.

Sidney Eitzmann finished in sixth place with a time of 23:13. Natalie Griffey, running in her first varsity race of the season, was 12th in 24:45, Myla Eastman finished 40th in 31:33, April Garcia was 46th in 34:31, Makayla Ankeny also had a time of 34:31 and finished in 47th. Analiz Leal had a personal record time of 39:31 to finish 51st.

“Sidney took the reins for the ladies, running a season best time and pushing up to sixth place,” Koenig said. “Natalie made her Varsity debut in style with a solid time finishing just outside of

T-shirt contention. Myla looked strong on the hills running the varsity course for the first time. April and Makayla stuck together and toughed out the race as teammates. Analiz showed some real grit and finished with a new PR.”

BEA’s only runner in the junior high race, Sakura Harding, finished 14th with a time of 10:38.