It was earlier than normal, but the Detroit Lakes Rotary Invitational was held Thursday, with the Laker boys' cross country team pegging their goal of finishing in the top three.
The Lakers had a trio of top 20 finishers, while the final two scorers tipped the scales towards DL, which finished with 99 points, behind each of Moorhead (22) and Alexandria (34).
The Laker girls' team was incomplete, with three varsity runners taking part in the meet.
"Going in, the guys wanted a top three finish and it was basically between us and Shanley," said DL head coach Bill Kvebak. "The key was our top guys just ran better than they did in our first meet. And also a goal of ours was to close the gap between our first and fifth runners.
"They were able to do that by cutting off 45 seconds between the first and fifth runners from our Moorhead meet."
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Leif Johnson clipped out Matt Weiss right at the finish line to finish 10th with an 18:23.39 time, while Weiss was 12th at 18:24.40.
Weiss was DL's frontrunner in their first meet, with the duo pushing each other at the front of the pack.
"Both Leif and Matt had personal best times for that course, so they each made another step forward," Kvebak said. "They both are competing for the top spot, but they are working together and pushing each other, as well."
DL's third and fourth runners were Dylan Ramstad-Skoyles and Ben Langworthy, with the former finishing 19th at 18:53.11 and the latter taking 23rd at 19:14.68.
"Those two are also working well together and pushing each other through races," Kvebak said of Ramstad-Skoyles and Langworthy.
The DL boys' coach also praised senior Collin Johnson for having a huge improvement Thursday after finishing as the team's fifth and final scorer, who finished 35th with a time of 20:35.08.
"He really stepped it up as our fifth runner, after being like our ninth or 10th in Moorhead over a week ago," Kvebak said. "He really wanted it."
The final three Lakers in were Quillan Oak (38th), Tre Martinez (40) and Nate Kitzmann (43).
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The boys' junior varsity finished third overall, as well, after not even placing last year in the same meet.
The Lakers will compete in the big Little Falls meet Thursday.
"We are starting to focus where we want to finish as a team and improve as a team overall," Kvebak said. "The senior leadership this year is making this a good team."
For the Laker girls' cross country team, only three runners were counted on varsity, but all three were improved times.
"The times have progressed nicely and most ran equally or faster than from the meet in Moorhead," said DL head girls' coach Jon Freeman.
The three counted runners were Kayla Anderson in 29th with a time of 19:24.97, Tess Jasken in 33rd at 19:59.50 and Tiffany Wirtz in 35th at 21:00.87.
More Laker runners did compete, as Freeman continued his evaluation of the complete squad.
"We are focusing on the Mid-State Conference meet (Oct. 9 in DL) and I'm looking for the top five girls to get under the 20-minute mark," Freeman said. "Kayla and Tess each made it under in our meet."
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The girls JV team also made a big leap in improvement.
The Laker girls will run in the Pelican Rapids meet Monday, while passing on the Little Falls meet.
"We have so much inexperience that these smaller meets are more beneficial for us," Freeman added.
Alexandria's Drew Paradis won the boys' meet with a 16:22.75, while Moorhead won each the boys' and girls' team titles.
Alexandria's Jamie Piepenberg won the girls' race with a time of 15:28.93.
Laker results
Detroit Lakes Rotary Invitational at the Lakeview Golf Course, Thursday, Sept. 4.
Boys varsity team results: Moorhead 22, Alexandria 34, Detroit Lakes 99, Shanley 112, Fergus Falls 123, Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal 175, Breckenridge/C-T 194.
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Top 5 finishers: Drew Paradis (Alex) 16:22.75; 2. Lukas Gemar (Mhd) 16:25.04; 3. Jakob Lindaas (Mhd) 16:54.15; 4. Timothy Lillehaugen (Mhd) 17:40.41; 5. Matt Nicolai (Mhd) 17:40.79.
Laker results: 10. Leif Johnson 18:23.29; 12. Matt Weiss 18:24.40; 19. Dylan Ramstad-Skoyles 18:53.11; 23. Ben Langworthy 19:14.68; 35. Collin Johnson 20:35.08; 38. Quillan Oak 20:55.32; 40. Tre Martinez 21:03.80; 43. Nate Kitzmann 21:14.97.
Girls varsity team results: Moorhead 30, Alexandria 47, Fergus Falls 84, Breckenridge/C-T 106, Hawley/Ulen-Hitterdal 121, Shanley 127. Detroit Lakes (incomplete).
Top 5 finishers: 1. Jamie Piepenberg (Alex) 15:28.93; 2. Haylie Zenner (FF) 15:59.07; 3. Tess Boucher (Alex) 16:08.31; 4. Anna Lipetzky (Mhd) 16:14.68; 5. Tayler Polomny (Mhd) 16:29.91.
Laker results: 29. Kayla Anderson 19:24.97; 33. Tess Jasken 19:59.50; 35. Tiffany Wirtz 21:00.87.
