PHS Cross Country: Boys and girls 4th at St. Olaf

By news@perhamfocus.com

September 21, 2008 at 11:00 PM

By John George

The Yellow Jacket cross country team made a trip that has become very familiar over the years. On Saturday, Perham went to Northfield, the site of the State Cross Country meet, to run in the St. Olaf Showcase. Both boys and girls finished fourth.

The girls, who are ranked No. 3 in the state in Class A, finished with 129 points. The girls race was won by No. 3-AA?Minnetonka with a score of 58 points. Second place went to unranked White Bear Lake (108), with No. 16-AA?Waseca coming in third (112).

Leading the way was junior Maddie McClellan, who was fourth overall with a time of 15:35. That's 37 seconds behind what she ran at State last year, which was good for fourth place. McClellan is currently ranked No. 3 individually in Class A.

The race medalist was Julia Harrison of Mound-Westonka, who finished with a time of 15:10.

Perham's second runner, No. 5 ranked Abby Anderson, finished 13th with a time of 15:55, nearly a minute behind her State time of last year (15:01). All five of the Jacket runners who scored team points finished in the top-50 out of 156 runners.

"I'm very happy with the girls," Perham head coach Jeff Morris said. "They are doing a nice job missing it up with the competition."

The Lady Jackets finished ahead of No. 9-A?Breck (8th place), No. 10-A?LaCrescent (9th place), and No. 5 Holy Family Catholic (10th place).

The boys also had solid races, but were a little disappointed when they got out a bit too slow, resulting in their fourth place finish with 160 points. No. 15-AA?Minnetonka won the race with 60 points. Wayzata, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, finished second with 116 points. No. 3-A?Blake School was third (131), followed by Perham.

Race medalist was Maple Grove's Alex Johnson, who finished with a time of 16:35.

Perham was led by junior Sam Stoll, who finished 27th with a time of 17:44. The Jackets next three runners, Keith Schornack, Alex Barney and Isaac?Werner, all finished within 13 seconds of Stoll. All five scoring runners finished in the top-40.

"You can be sure this weekend they will be aggressive from the gun," Morris said of his boys squad.

Closer to home

Perham will run in Fergus Falls today (Sept. 25) in the Otter Invitational at Pebble Lake Golf Course. Don't expect to see many of the top varsity runners, as they will be resting for the 23rd Annual Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul on September 27. The Griak Invite is on the the largest, and most prestigious races in the mid-west. This year's Griak Invite will be the largest ever.

The high school Gold race will start at 1:40 p.m. The high school girls race will be at 2:25 p.m.

Saturday, September 20

St. Olaf Showcase (Northfield)

Boys Team Scores

1. Minnetonka 60, 2. Wayzata 116, 3. Blake 131, 4. Perham 160, 5. Maple Grove 187, 6. St. Thomas Academy 193, 7. Irondale 213, 8. Champlin Park 253, 9. Mpls. SW 261, 10. Faribault 271, 11. Cretin-Derham Hall 278, 12. Waseca 297, 13. Mound Westonka 311, 14. Holy Family Catholic 321, 15. St. Louis Park 381, 16. Duluth Denfeld 390, 17. La Crescent 414, 18. Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson 416, 19. Breck 513, 20. Belle Plaine 520.

Medalist: Alex Johnson (MG) 16:35

Perham Individuals: 27. Sam Stoll 17:44, 28. Keith Schornack 17:47, 29. Alex Barney 17:47, 36. Isaac Werner 17:57, 40. Klaus Weber 18:08, 52. Brandon Karels 18:17, 73. David Altstadt 18:48. (178 total runners)

Girls Team Scores

1. Minnetonka 58, 2. White Bear Lake 108, 3. Waseca 112, 4. Perham 129, 5. Mound Westonka 155, 6. Maple Grove 172, 7. Champlin Park 182, 8. Breck 199, 9. La Crescent 228, 10. Holy Family 229, 11. Cretin-Derham Hall 281, 12. MPLS?SW 291, 13. Luvurne 362, 14. St. Louis Park 403, 15. Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson 416, 16. Blake 427, 17. Bell Plaine 474.

Medalist: Julia Harrison (MW) 15:10

Perham Individuals: 4. Maddie McClellan 15:35, 13. Abby Anderson 15:55, 32. Cassie Beseman 16:41, 36. Holly Sheets 16:50, 44. Shayla Fulford 17:06, 69. Maddie Covington 17:34, 83. Jenna Gigstead 17:55. (156 total runners)

Boys Class A?Poll Section 9/15rank

1. Adrian 3 2

2. Mora 5 3

3. Pequot Lakes 7 1

4. Blake 4 5

5. Minnehaha Acad. 4 6

6. Plainview-Elgin-Millville 1 7

7. Perham 8 4

8. Jackson CC x 8

9.LP-GE x --

10. Mounds Park Acad x --

Girls Class A?Poll Section 9/15 rank