Cross Country: LFC Girls Win First TRC Crown Since 2016
For the first time since 2016, LFC girls cross country claimed the TRC Meet team title. Ellen Cullen’s group (78) outdid nearest foes PEM (94), Chatfield (104), and Dover-Eyota (120) while GMLOS (161) took sixth, LARPH (204) ninth, and Kingsland 11th (of 11 teams). Naturally leading the Burros was sophomore Autumn Rakosnik (19:05), who bested nearest foes Hope Docan-Morgan (19:32.7) of La Crescent/Hokah and Emma Hatanpa (19:37.4) of Cotter/Hope Lutheran. Rakosnik did not run at last’s year meet, but she took third in 2023. Greatly helping the Burro cause were senior Lillyan Kiehne (21:04.8), who took 10th place, and Charity Kingsley (21:41.4) who took 20th place. Each joined Rakosnik in earning All-TRC. Kiehne did so a sixth year. She has been All-TRC every year since seventh grade. Her best finish was runner-up as an 8th grader in 2021. She now has five top 10 TRC Meet finishes. LFC had six girls in the top 30, as 8th grader Stella Charlebois (22:00.8) and Grace Kingsley (22:06.8) took 23rd and 24th to round out the Burro scoring fivesome while Eliza Cullen (22:15.9) took 26th place. The Kingsleys, Charlebois (just her second varsity race), and Cullen each ran season-best times. LARPH’s top runner Caitlin Bauer (20:05.4) took a strong fourth place, making All-TRC. Chatfield got a trio of runners in the top 21, the all-league cut-off. Lexi Kivimagi took 8th (20:52.8), Adeline Schild took 12th (21:17.6), and 7th grader Autumn Norsten took 14th (21:31). Kivimagi earned her fourth All-TRC with her fourth top 10 finish. GMLOS top runner Naomi Warmka took 15th (21:32.3) and Kingsland top runner Reeyin Lanning took 19th (21:41.3) to also make All-TRC. Also making the top 30 were Kingsland’s Kaylee Betts (28th place), LARPH’s Vada Larson (29th), and GMLOS’ Audrey Main (30th). One-hundred-three girls completed the 5,000-meter course at the relatively flat Harmony Golf Course on a cool, damp day, with 50-degree temps. LFC took a distance second to Cotter/HL last season (19 to 100) and in 2023 (44 to 85). LFC’s last TRC title was in 2016, as they won with just 18 points. Keira Olson was individual champ that year (21:07.1) while Leah Ruen and Bailey Ruen took second and third, Emily Snyder and Kaylee Arndt fifth and seventh. And thus, Rakosnik’s individual title this year is LFC’s first since Olson.
Cross Country: LARPH Tops Cotter for TRC Boys Crown
For a fourth straight year, the top two boys cross-country teams in the TRC are LARPH and Cotter/Hope Lutheran. For a second straight year, the #3-ranked Card-Tro-Canes bested the #2 Ramblers to claim the league team title. Getting six total runners in the top 10, Matt Kingsbury’s guys topped their neighborly rivals by five points, 30 to 35. St. Charles (116) took third, W-K (130) fourth, LFC (140) fifth, Chatfield (156) sixth, and GMLOS (263) tenth (of 10 teams). The Ramblers had three in the top four. Sophomore Erik Semling (15:26.3) won his third straight TRC title, with teammates Ryan Littlefield (16:01.2) and Kellen Groth (16:18.5) taking second and fourth. LARPH’s top finisher, Isaac Rasmussen (16:17.4), passed Groth late to take third place. LARPH runners Grayson Speltz (16:34.3), Brennan Kunst (16:36.3), and Aaron Ploetz (16:52.9) then went 5, 6, and 7. St. Charles’ Ivan Daood (16:55.2) took eighth. LARPH guys Trey Hegland (16:59.3) and Will Jewison (17:06.5) took ninth and tenth, then Hunter Rislov 13th place (17:24.6). Cotter’s fourth and fifth scoring runners were Jonah Hatanpa (17:24.4) in 12th place and Jonah Alexander (17:36.9) in 16th place. LARPH runners Rasmussen, Hegland, Jewison, and Rislov each ran season-best 5,000-meter times. Leading LFC was Andy Brown in 19th place (17:53.5) and leading Chatfield was Ben Peeters in 21st place (17:55.8). All the above made All-TRC. Kunst notably did so a fourth time, while Rasmussen, Ploetz, and Hegland did so a third time. Just missing the cut was LFC’s Riley Grant (18:02.7) in 22nd place. LARPH’s Cole Timm (25th), LFC’s Cooper Pickett (26th), Chatfield’s Maddex Lanning (28th) and Max Hoover (30th) finished top 30 of 117 total runners. The 5,000-meter race was run at the relatively flat Harmony Golf Course on a cool, damp day, with temperatures in the 50’s. LARPH topped Cotter last year 37 to 40.
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