Okoboji, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – Spirit Lake and Okoboji once again hosted the Iowa Great Lakes Cross Country Invitational, a meet that continues to grow in runner participation. 568 total runners competed in Middle School and Varsity races.
Winning the Class B Girls race was Hannah Baker of Lawton-Bronson. The Eagle 8th grader ran a time of 21:11.21 to take 1st. Kamryn Hough of GTRA was 2nd at 23:16.64. Hough came out for Cross Country to be in better shape come basketball season, but the Junior believes she has a good shot at qualifying for the State Meet late this fall.
Sibley-Ocheyedan took the next two spots with Freshman Paisley Kreykes 3rd at 23:18.14 and Senior Mya Pohlen 4th at 23:22.57. Emmetsburg’s Janey-Lynn Reedy was 5th with a time of 23:29.47 and Aleah Marco of Sibley-Ocheyedan was 5th with a time of 23:29.5.
The Generals 4th and 5th scorers were Lucy Heitritter in 8th, clocking 23:47.42 and Gracie Odens in 9th at 23:47.74.
In the team scores, Sibley-Ocheyedan dominated with 25 team points, putting all 5 scorers in the Top 10. Emmetsburg was 2nd at 64, edging out 3rd place Lawton-Bronson with 68. Sioux Central took 5th.
Sioux Center’s Audrina Jones won the Class A Girls race with a time of 20:32.27. Spencer’s Laynee Healy was 3rd at 21:03.98. The Tigers also went 5th and 6th with Minnie Matthiesen clocking 21:21.09 and Emerie Fullhart running 21:24.12. Matthiesen’s time wasn’t where she wanted it, but times were slow in general on a hot, muggy day in the Lakes.
Sioux Center won the team title with 48 points, Spencer was 2nd at 65, and Forest City took 3rd with 68 points. Cherokee was 7th, Okoboji 8th, spirit Lake 9th, Estherville Lincoln Central 11th, Storm Lake 12th, and Sheldon 13th.
In the Class B Boys race, Lucos Wernimont of Sioux Central won with a time of 17:05.43. Wernimont had a strategy in place for his final half of the race.
Emmetsburg’s Ben Cox would take 2nd in Class B with a time of 18:04.05. Emmetsburg has brought together some good numbers for the Boys team this season.
Sioux Central’s Landon Driver was 4th at 18:45.69, Sibley-Ocheyedan’s Joaquin Benitez took 5th at 19:05.04, and Colin Christians of Sioux Central was 6th at 19:08.64. Taking 8th was South O’Brien’s Landen Davenport at 19:21.56 and Sioux Central’s Weston Smith finished 10th at 19:34.37.
Sioux Central’s team won with 43 points, Lawton Bronson was 2nd at 49, and Lawton-Bronson took 3rd at 109. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was 4th, South O’Brien 5th, and Emmetsburg was 6th.
Jace Hungerford of Spirit Lake rolled in the Class A race with a time of 16:45.95. Sheldon’s Jayden Hegenbarth was 5th at 17:14.07, Chidi Nwala was 9th at 17:41.91, and Heath Kampbell of Storm Lake was 10th at 17:44.22.
In the Class A Team scores, Sioux Center won with 40 points, Spirit Lake was 2nd at 60, and Forest City was 3rd with 87. Sheldon was 5th, Storm Lake 6th, Okoboji 7th, Cherokee 8th, Spencer 9th, and Estherville Lincoln Central took 12th.
