The Blue Earth Area cross country teams were back in action on Thursday, Sept. 18 when they traveled to the Jackson County Golf Club for the Jackson County Central Invite.

It was a nice day to compete with sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s.

Girls Results

Illness hit the girls team and only two runners were able to compete in the varsity race giving the Bucs an incomplete team.

April Garcia finished 59th with a time of 32:42 and Analiz Leal was 65th in 40:11.

“It was a tough race with so many of our veteran runners out because of illness,” BEA coach Peter Koenig said. “Both April and Analiz battled valiantly and they each gave a great effort. With some luck, we hope to have more of our varsity team back in good heath next week.”

The Bucs’ only runner in the girls junior high race was Sakura Harding who finished 20th with a time of 14:01.

The team results showed host JCC and Adrian each having 53 points. The final outcome was decided by the placement of the sixth and seventh runners which gave JCC the championship.

“This was a great example of how, in cross country, every time counts and every racer matters,” Koenig remarked.

Fairmont finished in third place with 89 points and Martin County West was fourth with 90.

Boys Results

Windom Area literally ran away with the boys race with a winning score of only 30 points. Fairmont was second with 60 and Worthington was third with 72. BEA finished eighth in the nine-team field with a score of 197.

Devin Haase was the first Buccaneer to cross the finish line with a time of 21:11 which put him in 26th place.

Oliver Ankeny was 43rd in 22:56 and Marcus Eckles was 46th in 23:08. Samuel Bell was the fourth BEA runner to cross the finish line. His time of 23:57 put him in 53rd place.

“Devin continues to lead the boys with a strong effort,” Koenig remarked. “Oliver and Marcus executed excellent pack running at the start of the race with Marcus making a solid push in the final 200 meters and Sam cruised to a season record.”

Eli Goshorn finished 63rd in 25:09, Gus Ankeny was 68th in 25:50, Michael Vaske was 75th in 27:03, Memphis Johnson was 78th in 27:46 and Harrison Patten was 85th in 31:39.

In the junior high race, Gabe Peterson completed the 2400-meter course in 11:55 to finish in 24th place, Caleb Goshorn was 27th in 12:40, Jacob Hinkle was 30th in 13:37 and Jayden Gonzales was 34th in 14:46.