By the time the last Cardinal runner crossed the finish line in the girls Wright County Conference cross country championships Thursday, Oct. 14, everyone thought the team had secured the runner-up spot. So when they found out they had won it, it came as a complete surprise. Especially since Hutchinson was the favorite going in. But with one girl out of the race, the Tigers didn’t have the depth to stay ahead of Annandale, which also won the title last year. "All except one of our girls ran their best time of the year and our course (Whispering Pines) is not the easiest, so we know we raced well," coach Scott Massmann said. "To win back-to-back conference titles is a great accomplishment." Annandale hosted the conference championship at Whispering Pines, an opportunity that comes around about every 10 years. The boys team came in fifth on their home course behind Mound-Westonka, Orono, Glencoe-Silver Lake and Hutchinson. Courtney Alama’s fourth- place finish led the girls team. She and Taylor Alama, who finished 11th, earned all-conference honors. Meanwhile, Marina Chapman, Kayla Provo, Shanna Grambart and Colleen Alama all ran well enough for all-conference honorable mention. Devin Kerbaugh was the only all-conference winner on the boys side. He led the Cardinals with a 14th-place finish. "Anybody watching that first half of the boys race saw there were 15 guys right together. I’ve never seen that in a Wright County Conference meet," Massmann said. "The talent was very tight." Eventually the top two broke away, but the remaining third- through-14th-place runners stayed close, finishing within 30 seconds of each other. "Devin ran a good race. His aim was 11th and he was only seven seconds away from that," Massmann said. Clinton Wendt went out hard Thursday, looking for an all-conference honor, and paid the price at the end, falling several places short of that mark. "Clint would say he was not happy, but he did exactly what we wanted him to," Massmann said. "He went after all-conference. He could have been honorable mention, but he wasn’t racing for that." With Wendt struggling, Alex Morningstar kept the team in the mix for fifth by bouncing back from a bad case of shin splints to be the Cardinal’s No. 3 runner. He finished 30th, just a second behind Wendt. Carter Gjevre also came through, running his best race of the year for 45th place, Massmann said. "That’s what a team is for, to pick each other up if someone is down." The Cardinals were scheduled to compete again at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Howard Lake in what Massmann hopes will be a good tune up for the section meet at Pierz on Thursday, Oct. 28. On the girls side, he expects the battle at Pierz to be between four teams hoping to claim the No. 2 spot and the right to go on to state. With St. Cloud Cathedral the favorite to win, the runner-up spot will be up for grabs and Mora, Dassel-Cokato, Pierz and Annandale will all be vying for it. It’s the same story on the boys side. Cathedral is head-and-shoulders above the rest, which leaves Mora the most likely to be in the runner-up spot. "I think everybody else will be chasing Mora," Massmann said. "Everyone, including us, will be trying to take a shot at Mora." The Pierz meet begins at 4 p.m. with the girls varsity race followed by the boys varsity race. Results Girls team scores 1. Annandale 74; 2. Hutchinson 82; 3. Dassel-Cokato 88; 4. Waconia 92; 5. Glencoe-Silver Lake 110; 6. Watertown-Mayer 146; 7. Litchfield 180; 8. Orono 199; 9. Delano 210; 10. Mound-Westonka incomplete. Individual highlights 4. Courtney Alama 15:45; 11. Taylor Alama 16:20; 15. Marina Chapman 16:41; 21. Kayla Provo 16:58; 23. Shanna Grambart 17:03; 26. Colleen Alama 17:05; 41. Elizabeth Schlafke 18:05. Boys team scores 1. Mound-Westonka 37; 2. Orono 57; 3. Glencoe-Silver Lake 67; 4. Hutchinson 100; 5. Annandale 152; 6. Litchfield 164; 7. Dassel-Cokato 183; 8. Waconia 204; 9. Delano 250; 10. Watertown-Mayer 254. Individual highlights 14. Devin Kerbaugh 17:51; 29. Clinton Wendt 18:38; 30. Alex Morningstar 18:39; 34. Cody Norgren 18:46; 45. Carter Gjevre 19:17; 57. Justin Maehren 19:47; 60. Matt Fliegel 20:03.
