Cross Country: LARPH Boys Top Cotter/HL at PEM

For yet another year, Section 1A boys cross-country adversaries #3 in Class A LARPH and #2 in A Cotter/Hope Lutheran squared off at the PEM “Jodi Rahman” Invite late in the year. For the second straight year, LARPH came out on top. Matt Kingsbury’s group (49) topped the Ramblers (68) with W-K (90), Stewartville (127), LFC (128), D-E (128), St. Charles (176), Chatfield (178), and PEM (211) following. Cotter/HL’s #2-ranked Ryan Littlefield (15:33.6) topped W-K’s Griffin Riesgraf (15:47.7) for the individual crown. LARPH’s #6-ranked Brennan Kunst (15:53.7) and Grayson Speltz (16:10.1) took third and fourth. LARPH’s five scoring runners all made the top 19 with Will Jewison taking ninth (16:46.8), Cole Timm 14th (17:07.9), and Henry Meyer 19th (17:29.4). Additionally, Cory Kotsmith finished 21st (17:45). Chatfield’s Ben Peeters took 8th (16:45.4) while Max Hoover took 22nd place (17:46.7). LFC also had two in the top 25 with Andy Brown taking 11th (16:49.8) and Quinn Lepper took 16th (17:13.2). Sixty-three total runners competed at Plainview’s Piper Hills Golf Course. Top Cotter/HL runner Erik Semling (#1 in state) did not run. LARPH topped Cotter/HL last year 32-33. Cotter/HL topped the S-Eagles 43-46 in 2024. LARPH beat the Ramblers 45 to 46 in 2023. On the girls’ side, Stewartville (56) topped Chatfield (71), LFC (78), D-E (100), LARPH (110), W-K (158), St. Charles (171), Cotter/HL (173), and Kingsland (222). Individually, LARPH’s #1-ranked Caitlin Bauer continued her domination by taking first place (17:47) by over a minute over L/FC’s Autumn Rakosnik (18:56.5). Emily Helgemoe finished fourth place for LARPH (19:45). Chatfield, finally with a full line-up, had four in the top 17. Levi Kivimagi took seventh (19:50), 7th grader Henley Johnson ninth (20:01.3), Adeline Schild 13th (21:05.7), and Autumn Norsten 17th (21:12). LFC had five in the top 25. Alongside Rakosnik, Grace Kingsley took 15th (21:08.4), Olivia Rindels 19th (21:26.1), Charity Kingsley 21st (21:33.7), and Eliza Cullen 25th (22:01.6). Kingsland’s Reeyin Lanning (21:50.4) took 23rd. Sixty-three total runners competed.