by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls sophomore Curtis Griffin became a two-time state qualifier with a fifth-place finish at Thursday’s Section 8AA cross country meet at River Oaks Golf Course in Cold Spring.
Griffin led the Thief River Falls boys to a sixth-place finish in the team standings. The top two teams and the top six individuals outside of the top two teams qualified for this year’s Class AA State Meet.
“Both teams did awesome, with dropping anywhere from 15 seconds to nearly three minutes off their previous times,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Natasha Reierson. “Curtis Griffin was the second individual to make it to state next weekend. In the boys race, second through fifth place was extremely close. Next year, we have the goal as a boys team to make it to the state meet.”
Perham and Willmar took home the top two spots, scoring 28 and 82 points, respectively. Rocori was third with 90. Fergus Falls finished fourth at 103. Detroit Lakes was fifth at 129 and the Prowlers were sixth at 149.
Individual state qualifiers outside of the top two teams were Connor Malecka of Detroit Lakes, finishing first overall; Griffin, finishing fifth; Jack Skanson and Brody Sieben of Rocori finishing eighth and ninth, respectively, and Brody Nelson and Micah Mouser of Fergus Falls finishing 14th and 15th, respectively.
Much like the boys race, Perham ran away with the team title in the girls race, outscoring runner-up Rocori 32-90. Third place went to Little Falls with 102 points. Breckenridge, Willmar and Fergus Falls rounded out the top six, with 107, 114 and 128 points, respectively.
State qualifiers outside Perham and Rocori were race winner Cassie Wellman of Fergus Falls; Carsyn Lill of Fergus Falls in third; Lucie Comstock and Kiera Wiertzema of Breckenridge in fourth and fifth; Gabby Martinez of Willmar in 10th and Ella Lipinski of Albany in 11th place.
Thief River Falls finished ninth in the girls competition with Elory Mossestad leading the way with a 37th-place finish. Also running for the Prowlers were Livia Harbott in 39th place, Paisley Schneider in 40th, Kayla in 51st, Lillian Lane in 58th, and Aliyah Novak in 69th place.
“The girls did great with dropped times and even a couple PRs,” Reierson said.
Results
Girls Varsity
• State Qualifiers – 1. Cassie Wellman, Fergus Falls, 18:55.90; 2. Tilly Mathies, Perham, 19:01.60; 3. Carsyn Lill, Fergus Falls, 19:01.70; 4. Lucie Comstock, Breckenridge 19:07.00; 5. Kiera Wiertzema, Breckenridge 19:09.30; 6. Gracie Morris, Perham, 19:09.70; 7. Adeline Werner, Perham, 19:09.90; 8. Julianna Scraper, Perham 19:12.40; 9. Rory Kaldor, Perham, 19:26.20; 10. Gabby Martinez, Willmar 19:27.20; 11. Ella Lipinski, Albany, 19:27.40; 12. Grace Reiter, Rocori, 19:28.80; 13. Izzy Kraemer, Rocori, 19:29.00; 16. Bella Stang, 8 Rocori, 19:42.70; 17. Chayla Sweere, Perham, 19:46.10; 19. Avalee Brown, Perham, 19:54.60; 24. Brynn Kiess, Rocori, 20:18.30; 25. Lucy Klein, Rocori, 20:20.80; 38. Aislyn Marten, Rocori, 21:29.80; 42. Violet Nathan, Rocori, 22:16.30.
• TRF places – 37. Elory Mossestad 21:21.90; 39. Livia Harbott 21:49.70; 40. Paisley Schneider 21:51.80; 51. Kayla Peterson 23:01.40; 58. Lillian Lane 23:44.40; 69. Aliyah Novak 27:29.90.
• Team scores – 1. Perham 32; 2. Rocori 90; 3. Little Falls 102; 4. Breckenridge 107; 5. Willmar 114; 6. Fergus Falls 128; 7. Albany 149; 8. Detroit Lakes 221; 9. Thief River Falls 224; 10. Melrose Area 284.
Boys Varsity
• State Qualifiers – 1. Connor Malecka, Detroit Lakes, 16:03.80; 2. Brody Freeland, Perham, 16:13.00; 3. Matt Jorgenson, Perham 16:16.80; 4. Zach Engstrom, Willmar, 16:27.00; 5. Curtis Griffin, Thief River Falls, 16:36.80; 6. Henry Mathiason, Perham, 16:37.40; 7. Ethan Johnson, Perham, 16:39.50; 8. Jack Skanson, Rocori, 16:45.70; 9. Brody Sieben, Rocori, 16:47.00; 10. Bryce Brown, Perham, 16:50.10; 11. Reid Wokasch, Perham, 16:52.00; 12. John Spencer, Willmar, 16:54.10; 13. Dylan Guck, Perham, 16:54.20; 14. Brody Nelson, Fergus Falls, 17:05.50; 15. Micah Mouser, Fergus Falls, 17:06.90; 18. Levi Twedt, Willmar, 17:25.50; 23. Crosby Pederson, Willmar 17:55.10; 25. Easton Krause, Willmar 18:04.20; 26. Ruben Palacios, Willmar. 18:08.00.
• TRF places – 5. Curtis Griffin 16:36.80; 28. Lincoln Davis 18:12.10; 29. Thomas Eidsmoe 18:19.30; 43. Colin MacLean 18:38.40; 44. Eli Nelson 18:38.70; 60. Wyatt Novak 19:20.10; 64. Toby Sobotta 19:38.40.
• Team scores – 1. Perham 28; 2. Willmar 82; 3. Rocori 90; 4. Fergus Falls 103; 5. Detroit Lakes 129; 6. Thief River Falls 149; 7. Melrose Area 186; 8. Albany 201; 9. Little Falls 256; 10. Breckenridge 259; 11. East Grand Forks 299.