Drietz, C/M girls 1st again; boys 2nd

The Canby/Minneota girls came away with an impressive win against a strong field in the Border West Quadrangular last Thursday in Wheaton.
Lac qui Parle Valley won the three-team boys meet, while Canby/Minneota finished second.
Grace Drietz, a three-time state entrant, won her fifth straight meet. The junior finished in a time of 18:30, well over two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Braelyn Merritt of Canby/Minneota was second in 20:51 and C/M's Claire Stoks was third in 20:52, while McKenzie Ruether was fifth in 21:33.
"Our varsity girls ran tough again," said Canby/Minneota coach Allyson Pesek. "However, four cannot do it alone. Our girls team has started to look to our younger eighth grade team."
And eighth-grader Natalie Stoks finished as the fifth C/M runner, coming in 13th in a time of 24:29, while senior Rachel Wollum was in 15th at 25:14.
"We also look forward to adding eighth graders Hannah Fadness, Lillie Wollum, and Jaelin Anderson to the team as we look ahead to the section meet on Oct. 15," Pesek noted.
The top finisher for the Canby/Minneota boys was Blake Stoks, who was fourth behind a trio of LQPV runners in a time of 17:44, one second from finishing third.
"It was good to race against some different teams and as always, it was good to race against LQPV/DB," Pesek said. "They've always been one of our area strong competitors, but we had some boys pushing to be within their pack."
Kolton Duis ran a strong race, finishing in eighth placer in 18:07.
"Our boys looked good," Pesek remarked. "I know now with seeing some tough competition that these boys will analyze and work to better themselves for when we see LQPV/DB again in two weeks at the section meet."
Because of the limitations placed by the Minnesota State High School League due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has been a unique and trying season for cross country teams.
"Despite all the extra rules, we have had a fabulous season," Pesek stated. "And I will say it again; I am so proud of each and every one of our runners."
Boys team scoring
(1) Lac qui Parle Valley 19 (2) Canby/Minneota 43 (3) Border West 58 (4) MACCRAY/Renville County West and Lakeview incomplete.
Top 5 boys
(1) Zeke Sather, LQPV, 16:38 (2) Darius Fenske, LQPV, 17:24 (3) Kaden Allpress, LQPV, 17:43 (4) Blake Stoks, Canby/Minneota, 17:44 (5) Joe Arens, Border West, 17:46
Canby/Minneota boys
(4) Stoks (8) Kolton Duis 18:07 (13) Zach Ourada 18:50 (14) Tristen Bierschenk 19:10 (16) Colton Ruether 19:35 ... (Others) Blake Giese 19:43, Isaac Bach 20:09, Sam Skorczewski 20:13
Girls team scoring
(1) Canby-Minneota 21 (2) Lac qui Parle Valley 41 (3) Border West 66 (4) Lakeview 83 (5) MACCRAY/Renville County West 83
Top 5 girls
(1) Grace Drietz, Canby/Minneota, 18:30 (2) Braelyn Merritt, Canby-Minneota, 20:51 (3) Claire Stoks, Canby/Minneota, 20:52 (4) Kori Bristle, MACCRAY/Renville County West, 21:20 (5) McKenzie Ruether, Canby/Minneota, 21:33
Canby/Minneota girls
(1) Drietz (2) Merritt (3) Stoks (5) Ruether (13) Natalie Stoks 24:29 ... (Others) Rachel Wollum 25:14