Oliver Ankeny, left, and Marcus Eckles, right, competed in the Metcalf Invitational at the Mountain Lake Golf Course on Friday Aug. 29.

The Blue Earth Area cross country teams participated in their second meet of the season when they traveled to the Mountain Lake Golf Course to compete in the Metcalf Invite on Aug. 29.

Under sunny skies with a temperature of 73 degrees and 79 percent relative humidity, both the girls and boys varsity teams competed in 5K races featuring a hilly terrain.

The BEA girls were unable to field a full team. However, Aubrey Woodwick ran to a 13th-place finish with a time of 22:55. April Garcia finished in 69th place in 30:04 and Makayla Ankeny was 70th in 30:20.

“Aubrey gave us a strong start to the day,” Buccaneer cross country coach Peter Koenig said. “April and Makayla delivered solid performances, showing significant potential for continued growth throughout the season.”

The host team from Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey took first place in the meet with 56 points, Eagle Ridge Academy was second with 61 and Adrian was third with 89.

The Bucs’ lone entry in the junior varsity race, Rayne Schuster, covered the 4K course in 25:32 to finish in 22nd place.

BEA also had one junior high girl competing in the 2000-meter race. Sakura Harding finished 22nd with a time of 10:33.

Boys Results

The team from Windom Area captured first place for the boys with a score of 48, Eagle Ridge Academy was second with 81 and Murray County Central/Fulda was third with 102. BEA finished 10th in the 11-team field with a score of 263.

Devin Haase paced the Bucs’ team with a time of 20:59 which put him in 40th place. Oliver Ankeny had a time of 22:58 to finish 63rd right ahead of his teammate, Marcus Eckles, who was 64th in 23:07.

“Devin tackled the hills with excellent form and delivered a standout performance while improving his time from last season,” Koenig commented. “Oliver and Marcus ran in a pack during the first half of the race. Oliver impressively shaved nearly 30 seconds off his previous time while Marcus unleashed a powerful kick in the final 200 meters to surge past several competitors.”

Eli Goshorn and Gus Ankeny each had personal record times during the meet. Goshorn finished 78th in 25:12 and Ankeny was 79th in 25:30.

“Eli showed remarkable strength in his first-ever 5K, finishing as the Bucs’ No. 4 runner,” Koenig remarked. “Gus appears at ease among the varsity squad this year and posted a solid time in his season opener.”

Memphis Johnson and Harrison Patten each competed in the junior varsity race. Johnson had a time of 22:27 to finish in 24th place and Patten was 26th with a time of 24:20.

In the junior high race, BEA’s Gabe Petersen was 39th in 9:22 and Jacob Hinkle was 51 in 10:55.

The next cross country meet for the Buccaneers is Sept. 11 when they travel to Daly Park to compete in the Maple River Invite.