By John George
In horse racing, they are called "mudders"...horses that run well in the rain. I guess you could call everyone on the Perham cross country team "mudders" now.
On Monday, for the third consecutive meet, the Jackets had to run in wet, soggy conditions. And for the third consecutive meet, Perham dominated. They won five of six races, including both varsity and both junior varsity races, at the Park Rapids Invite Monday, the final regular season meet of the season.
The varsity boys were nearly perfect once again with 17 points, two away from the best you can get in cross country. They were led by Kevin Lachowitzer, who won his sixth race of the year with a time of 16:41. The win, combined with his victory last week in the HOL Championships, vaulted him into the No. 1 individual ranking in Class A.
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Behind Lachowitzer were three more Jacket runners. Eddie Stenger was second, followed by Nick Adkins in third and Justin Tellinghuisen in fourth, all running under 18 minutes on a very soggy, muddy course. Rounding out the scoring for Perham was Bryan Paridon in seventh.
"It was a great last meet for us to work on some things," head coach Jeff Morris said. "We really focused on where we wanted to be in he first 800 meters, then how our kids packed in the race. It worked well being that we finished 1-4 and seventh."
The varsity girls were nearly as dominate with their top-five runners all finishing in the top-10 for a team score of 25.
Leading the way was No. 8-A Brittany Gigstead, who was the meet's runner-up with a time of 15:37. Maddie McClellan, ranked No. 13-A, was third overall, followed by Holly Sheets in fifth, Sadie Ellenberg in sixth and Maddie Covington in 10th.
The race medalist was No. 5-A Naomi Landecker of Staples-Motley with a time of 15:28.
"The girls continue to run aggressive," Morris said. "This should give them lots of confidence heading into our section. I have been extremely pleased with how our girls work together.
In other races, Alex Barney led the boys J.V. to a win with a first place time of 18:14. Abby Anderson earned medalist honors in the girls J.V. race with a time of 17:25, leading them to a team win.
The junior high boys also won their race, giving Perham five wins in six races in Park Rapids.
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The Jackets will have over a week to prepare for the Section 8A race, which will be held in Bagley on Oct. 27. The girls will race at 4 p.m., followed by the boys at 4:30 p.m.
