The final week of the cross country season had Chatfield and LARP hosting home meets, with GMLOS involved in the later. Each squad notched a team win and the three squads combined for four individual firsts. In Chatfield, the Gophers hosted their third meet of the season. They’d tip-toed around sweeping both firsts for individuals and teams the previous two meets. With PEM and D-E the other competitors, Chatfield got the later part of that sweeping equation in their last home meet. Gopher runners Tessa McMahon (21:32) and Treyton Lanning (19:01) each took first. Lanning “was patient in his first mile,” “worked steadily through the racers in his second mile,” according to Coach Jayna Harstad. He “took the lead in the final valley,” beating PEM’s Baylor Hagen (19:16). Bulldog Jonathan Tienter (19:20) took third. Alex Wright, in his first complete race of the year, took fifth (19:49) for Chatfield. PEM (22) won the boys team competition over the Gophers (37) and D-E (75). Chatfield’s girls used McMahon’s top performance (21:32) to beat narrowly beat PEM, 26 to 29 (D-E was incomplete), avenging a sixth-runner tie-break loss earlier in the season. Bulldog runners Macy Wozney (21:33) and MollyKate Hagen (21:49) took second and third. Gopher runners Abbi Gillespie (22:30), Aletta Strande (22:32), Belle Carr (23:17) and Josie Koenigs (24:42) took fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth to complete the Gophers scoring. Hagen took first and McMahon second the last time PEM and the Gophers ran against each other in Chatfield.
Elsewhere in Lewiston, LARP’s boys completed a perfect regular season. They grabbed their seventh team first in seven tries. Matt Kingsbury’s boys posted a perfect score (15), beating GMLOS (57) and W-K (66). Tyler Rislov (18:25.1), Andrew Hoiness (18:27.3), and Luke O’Hare (18:27.9) all finished in a clump at the top, as the latter ceded an individual first place for the first time this year. Tyler Betthauser (18:36.7) and Aaron Prinsen (18:38.4) rounded out LARP’s scoring runners. GMLOS’ top runner was Christian Hjelman (18:47.2), who took sixth. GMLOS’ girls (20) took first over LARP (37) and an incomplete W-K team. McKenna Hendrickson (21:49.6) took first for GMLOS. LARP’s Lauren Honken (22:05.1) took second. GMLOS then had three, four, and five in Lauren Queensland (22:31.5), Naomi Warmka (23:08), and Kendyl Queensland (23:17.3). The meet were the last for each. There will be section meets, but no state competition.