Above: The Crusader boys team. Nathan Strobel is second from left. (Photo courtesy of Dale Compton)
Finishing in the top 10 at the Valley Conference meet in Sherburn on Tuesday, Nathan Strobel, James Young and Sam Vetter earned All-Conference awards.
Eighth grader Corbin Deichman, who usually is out front in junior high races, was an All-Conference honorable mention.
For the Crusader girls, Molly Koester earned an All-Conference while Kathryn Huisken and Jewel Factor were honorable mentions.
Strobel’s 18:41.9 finish was good for fourth place. There were 37 runners, and the winning time was 17:20.2
“Nathan had a very nice conference meet for us tonight,” said head coach Dale Compton. “He got out in the top five and held on the entire race.”
With an 18:52.8, Younge was next in line, and Vetter finished sixth overall with a 19:00.7.
Deichman was 11th with a 19:29.9, and Soren Kelly rounded out the Crusader top five with a 19:51.9. TJ Waldron was 18th with a 2:13.4, and Jorden Rossow was 19th with a 2014.5.
With a 22:51.9 finish, Koester was fourth among the 27 girls varsity runners. The winning time was 20:09.1
For the rest of the Crusaders, Huisken was 11th (25:20.1), Factor was 12th (25:26.9), Cora Koester was 16th (26:59.4), and Alexa Bolstand was 19th (35:28.2).
“Jewel ran the best race of her career,” Compton said. “It was great to see her get out strong and continue to pass girls throughout the race. She has worked hard and deserved her honorable mention award.”
Teamwise, the varsity boys were second with a 37, five points behind winner Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet. Martin County West was third with a 72, and Madelia/Truman/GHEC was fourth with an 85.
The Crusader girls finished third with a 62. LCWM/N was first with a 28, and MCW was second with a 37. M/T/GHEC didn’t field a complete team.
Loyola foreign exchange student Oleguer Costales won the 3200-m junior varsity boys race with a 12:09.6. Teammate Max Bolstand was seventh of seven runners with a 21:47.1
Competing against seven runners, Loyola Cleveland’s Thomas Soupir won the 3200-m junior high boys race with a 14:42.3. Elijah Mons was right behind him with a 14:49.9 silver finish.
“Thomas led from the gun to win his second race of the year,” Compton said. “Elijah followed up his strong performance at Madelia with another good day.”
Rounding out the Crusader top five in the boys junior high race, Jack Sullivan was fourth with a 15:53.6, Isaac Coudron was fifth with a 15:58.5, and Charlie Maxfield was seventh with a 21:45.0.
Six runners competed in the 3200-m junior high girls race. Loyola-Cleveland’s Charlotte Kirshner was second with a 15:29.4. Crusader Valentina Rohlfing was third with a 16:48.2, and teammate Anika Sathoff was fifth with a 17:28.7. The winning time was 15:10.2
“It was another strong showing for our junior high athletes,” Compton said.
The Crusader varsity runners travel to Blue Earth on Thursday for the section meet.
Jewell Factor, back row, middle, poses with conference award winners. (Photo courtesy of Dale Compton)
The top five runners in the girls junior high race. Valentina Rohlfing is in the middle. Anika Sathoff is on the right. (Photo courtesy of Dale Compton)