Prairie Ridge Golf Course was the site for the latest cross country meet for Blue Earth Area.

The Buccaneers traveled to the course located near Janesville on Sept. 25 for the Grizzly Pie Invite with the runners not only battling the course but also having to fight off the bugs on the warm, sunny 80 degree day.

Girls Results

The BEA girls did not register a team score. Mankato Loyola/Cleveland placed first with 22 points followed by Blooming Prairie in second place with 66, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in third with 76, Martin County West in fourth with 91, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in fifth with 133 and Medford sixth with 157.

Aubrey Woodwick led the Bucs with a 21st-place finish and a time of 24:48. Sidney Eizmann was the second BEA runner to cross the finish line. Her time of 25:38 was good for 24th place. Finishing 51st was April Garcia in 34:11 and Makayla Ankeny was 53rd in 15:07.

“It was so great to have more of our girls team back in action,” Buccaneer head coach Peter Koenig said. “Fighting back from some illness and soreness, the Buc women got some great running done on the hills in Janesville.”

In the junior high race, Sakura Harding covered the 2500-meter course in 13:40 to finish in sixth place.

Boys Results

Mankato Loyola/Cleveland completed the sweep by also winning the boys portion of the meet. Their winning point total was 27 while runner-up WEM/JWP was second with 67. Finishing in third place was Blooming Prairie with 75 points, Randolph was fourth with 88, Medford was fifth with 122 and BEA was sixth with 142.

Devin Haase once again paced the BEA boys with a time of 20:54 which put him in 20th place. Oliver Ankeny was 36th in 22:43, Marcus Eckles was 39th in 23:35, Sam Bell was 45th in 24:07, Eli Goshorn was 50th in 25:02, Gus Ankeny was 52nd in 25:24, Michael Vaske was 61st in 28:16, Memphis Johnson ws 62nd in 28:34 and Harrison Patten was 65th in 30:51.

“The Buc boys ran some really good races. Devin ran a strong race with great form and solid pacing. He was able to pass quite a few people on his second lap to cruise into 20th place,” Koenig commented. “Oliver and Marcus once again ran as a pack for most of their first lap before Oliver put on the burners and finished strong. Marcus was dealing with some ankle pain from the side hills but still managed a strong effort with a good finish.”

The Bucs had four runners who competed in the 2500-meter junior high race.

Gabe Peterson led BEA with a time of 11:17 to finish in 12th place, Caleb Goshorn was 15th in 12:11, Jacob Hinkle was 20th in 13:25 and Jayden Gonzales was 21st in 13:38.