Cross country: Raptors, Wolfpack compete in Dewey Minnaert invite

District 833 and Suburban East Conference cross country foes East Ridge, Park and Woodbury all got to know each other a bit better last week.

The three south Washington County schools competed in the 2012 Dewey Minnaert Invitational on Thursday, Sept. 6, at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park in Hastings.

The meet provided a stage for a showdown between two of the state’s top girls distance running teams – Eagan, which is No. 1 in the state, and East Ridge, which is No. 4.

In the girls 4K race, East Ridge runners took five of the top 12 spots, but the Raptors still finished second to Eagan. East Ridge totaled 40 place points, while the Wildcats had 21 points. Woodbury took fourth place with 155 points and Park earned fifth place with 167 points.

Leading the way for East Ridge was junior Bailey Ness, who placed second out of 86 runners, with a time of 14 minutes, 43.14 seconds. Only Eagan senior Danielle Anderson was better, with an amazing time of 13:48.95.

Sophomore Emily Betz crossed the finish line second for East Ridge, taking seventh place overall with a time of 15:19.18.

In addition, for East Ridge, senior Taylor Jackson ran a time of 15:33.01 for the Raptors’ third-best finish taking ninth overall and sophomore Brenley Goertzen and junior Sandra Gramer rounded out the Raptors’ top five, respectively, with times of 15:37.97 and 15:42.06, taking 10th and 12th overall.

Freshman Cameron Anderson turned in the top time for Park with a 16:11.90, which was good for 23rd place overall. Senior Brooke Anderson had the Wolfpack’s second-best time, a 16:41.24, to take 30th place. Sophomore Rebekah Schulte (16:58.60), sophomore Bailey Aasen (17:09.02) and freshman Taylor Rumpca (17:39.10), rounded out the Wolfpack’s top five, taking 36th, 40th and 54th overall.

In the boys 5K race, Woodbury had three runners finish in the top 12 places to help the Royals take fourth place with 89 points, not too far behind first-place St. Paul Central, which totaled 71 points. With 129 points, East Ridge placed sixth and Park was eighth with 213 points.

After laboring a bit in meet No. 1, East Ridge senior Nate Roese was back at the top of the pack. The state’s 400-meter dash champion took fourth place with a time of 16:56.61. Cretin-Derham Hall senior Kevin Docherty won the race with a time of 16:18.44. After Roese, junior Ryan Schiferl was the next East Ridge runner to cross the finish line, taking 13th overall with a time of 17:48.19. Rounding out the top five for the Raptors were junior Sam Boardman, who took 31st with a time of 18:33.76, junior Nate Tigges, who took 38th with a time of 18:50.82 and junior Aaron Gorden, who placed 46th with a time of 19:00.48.

Park junior Evan Bonneson had the Wolfpack’s top finish, taking 17th place with a time of 17:58.01. The next Park runner to cross the finish line was sophomore Ryan Tolkinen, who took 39th place with a time of 18:51.23. Park junior Kyle Mohr (19:51.60), junior Connor Gabbert (20:02.76) and eighth grader Scott Burazin (20:22.64) rounded out the Wolfpack’s top five with finishes of 60th, 63rd and 67th, respectively.

Next, East Ridge is at Aronson Park for an invitational hosted by Lakeville North on Friday, Sept. 14, while Park is in Anoka on Thursday, Sept. 13, for an invitational meet.

Tags: cross country, east ridge, sports, raptors, park, wolfpack, prep, updates