C/M girls 3rd at Milaca Mega Meet; boys 7th
The Canby/Minneota boys and girls cross country teams varsity both fared well in the 20-team Milaca Mega Meet on Saturday.
Four divisions each of boys and girls from 7th grade to varsity were run with over 200 teams at the various levels competing.
"It was a beautiful day for a run," said C/M coach Allyson Pesek. "The Milaca Mega Meet is like no other."
Canby/Minneota competed in the Division IV level which included the smaller schools. The girls finished third with 141 points behind Minnewaska and Wadena-Deer Creek.
The C/M boys placed seventh among 20 teams with 201 points.
Individually, Grace Drietz was third in 19:19, Claire Stoks ninth in 20:04, Braelyn Merritt 11th in 20:06, Hannah Vlaminck 55th in 23:09, Hannah Fadness 89th in 24:01, and Lillie Wollum 90th in 24:02.
For the boys, Kolton Duis was 27th in 17:48, Zach Ourada 28th in 17:50, Blake Stoks 33rd in 17:58, Blake Giese 60th in 19:04, Tristen Bierschenk 98th in 19:28, Colton Ruether 100th in 19:59, and Caleb Danielson 130th in 20:41.
"For eight of our runners, yesterday was their first-ever Mega Meet experience," said Pesek. "For the other 10, it's been since 2019, when some were just little junior high runners. And wow, have we improved."
Results Tuesday, Sept. 21
The Canby/Minneota boys finished first among nine teams in the Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd Invitational last Tuesday.
In the girls' race, Canby/Minneota came in second to Murray County Central.
"I'm so proud of the grit and determination I see in each and every one of our runners when they are out on the course," said C/M coach Allyson Pesek. "They are such a hard-working bunch of kids.
The C/M boys had three of the top 10 individuals with Kolton Duis finishing second, Zach Ourada third and Blake Stoks seventh. Blake Giese finished in 15th place and Tristan BIerschenk was 18th.
Grace Drietz of C/M was second to Murray County Central's Amanda Overgaauw for the third time this season. Braelyn Merritt was fourth and Claire Stoks fifth.
Results Tuesday, Sept. 21
LQPV/Dawson-Boyd Invite
GIRLS TEAM SCORING
(1) Murray County Central 45 (2) Canby/Minneota 74 (3) Redwood Valley 79 (4) Springfield-Comfrey 82 (5) PipestoneArea 97 (6) Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 146 (7) Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton 146 (8) Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 240 (9) Montevideo 255
TOP 5 GIRLS
(1) Amanda Overgaauw, MCCF, 17:57.82 (2) Grace Drietz, CM, 19:32.31 (3) Ashley Overgaauw, MCCF, 19:37.27 (4) Braelyn Merritt, C/M, 20:21.71 (5) Claire Stoks, C/M, 20:29.02
CANBY/MINNEOTA GIRLS
(2) Grace Drietz 19:32.31 (4) Braelyn Merritt 20:21.71 (5) Claire Stoks 20:29.02 (29) Hannah Vlaminck 23:26.99 (38) Hannah Fadness 24:28.84
BOYS TEAM SCORING
(1) Canby/Minneota 43 (2) Redwood Valley 80 (3) Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd 81 (4) Springfield-Comfrey 118 (5) Montevideo 120 (6) Murray County Central 133 (7) Ortonville 171 (8) Pipestone Area 176 (9) Southwest Minnesota Christian-Edgerton 209
TOP 5 BOYS
(1) Caden Strasser, Pipe, 16:54.19 (2) Kolton Duis, CM, 16:54.95 (3) Zach Ourada, CM, 16:56.04 (4) William Arens, RV, 17:07.62 (5) Peyton Sterud, LQPV/DB, 17:15.02
CANBY/MINNEOTA BOYS
(2) Kolton Duis 16:54.95 (3) Zach Ourada 16:56.04 (7) Blake Stoks 17:22.57 (15) Blake Giese18:25.08 (18) Tristan Bierschenk 18:29.78