By John George
Billed as No. 1 against No. 2, the rain-dampened crowd at Arvig Park was waiting with great anticipation to see their own Kevin Lachowitzer, ranked No. 2, take on Warroad's top-ranked Moses Heppner.
After sweeping the boys and girls junior high races, the boys and girls junior varsity races, and the girls varsity race, both team and individual in each case, A win by Lachowitzer and the boys would be the perfect end to the not-so-perfect day.
Although the final result was as they hoped, the end was anti-climactic. Lachowitzer cruised to the individual title, leading Perham to their fifth straight HOL championship, with Heppner finishing a distant 11th.
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The two were running neck-and-neck until the second loop through the woods, about the 4.5K mark.
"The guy on the four-wheeler was waving us to turn in the woods," Lachowitzer said. "It seemed like he (Heppner) wanted to go straight and as I turned to stay on the path our legs got crossed up and we both went down. I guess he pulled something and couldn't get back up. I got to my feet and took off."
The crowd buzzed as Lachowitzer emerged from the woods alone. Finally, Perham teammate Eddie Stenger came out of the woods in second.
Lachowitzer finished with a personal best 16:00 time for his first HOL title.
"I was really happy with my time," he said. "Getting a sub-16 was a major goal of mine.
"I'd like another chance to run with him (Moses) and beat him with us both finishing," Lachowitzer continued. "I think we'll get a couple more chances."
The figure to meet again at Sections on Oct. 27 and at State on Nov. 4.
Three-peat
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The girls also dominated, finishing with and identical scores as the boys, 17, with seven runners in the top-nine. It is the Perham girls third straight conference title.
Brittany Gigstead, who recently moved to No. 8 in the Class A rankings, won her second individual HOL title in three years with a time of 15:17.
The Jackets held the top-four spots as Gigstead was followed by Maddie McClellan, Holly Sheets and the defending HOL champ, Sadie Ellenberg.
"We didn't feel to much pressure here today," Gigstead said. "We knew if we came out and ran our best race, we'd be hard to beat."
Sweep Complete
Perham's Cassie Beseman won the girls jr. high race and Keith Schornack won the boys jr. high race, as both teams won the jr. high HOL title.
In the J.V. races, both boys and girls teams won as well, led by medalist's Jessica Dreier and Sam Stoll.
Regular season ends
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Perham's final regular season meet will be in Pelican Rapids on Oct. 16, starting at 4 p.m.
The Section 8A Meet is scheduled for Oct. 27 in Bagley.
