Sep. 20—EDEN PRAIRIE — Facing off against a stacked field at the Metro Invitational at Round Lake Park, the Willmar cross-country teams more than held their own.
The Cardinal girls finished fourth with 101 points while the boys placed fifth with 160.
St. Paul Highland Park, ranked first in Class AA, won the girls race with a score of 45. The top four were all ranked teams: Wayzata (third, AAA) second with 63; Champlin Park (eighth, AAA) third with 87; and Willmar (second, AA) in fourth.
Lauren Eilers paced the Willmar girls with a fifth-place time of 19 minutes, 10.1 seconds. Erin Eilers (14th, 19:45.5) and Nina Dawson (22nd, 20:20.8) each finished in the top 25.
Chanhassen’s Isabella Roemer won the girls race at 18:33.1, beating teammate Marissa Long’s 18:39.2.
Wayzata, the top-ranked team in Class AAA, won the boys race with 35 points. Roseville (66), St. Paul Highland Park (85), Eden Prairie (111) and Willmar rounded out the top five. St. Paul Highland Park (second, AA) and Willmar (seventh, AA) are ranked.
Leading the way for the Cardinal boys was Sully Anez, who took fourth at 16:29.1. Teammate Colin O’Farrell took 13th at 17:00.5.
The top boys runner was Wayzata’s Hamza Mohamed at 16:08.25. He edged Roseville’s Jimmy Olson, who finished at 16:08.3.
On Thursday, Willmar will compete in a meet hosted by Rocori at River Oaks Golf Course in Cold Spring.
Metro Invitational
Boys
Team scoring
(1) Wayzata 35 … (2) Roseville 66 … (3) St. Paul Highland Park 85 … (4) Eden Prairie 111 … (5) Willmar 160 … (6) Maple Grove 166 … (7) Chaska 184 … (8) Chanhassen 185 … (9) Champlin Park 219
Individual
TOP FIVE — (1) Hamza Mohamed, Way, 16:08.25 … (2) Jimmy Olson, Rose, 16:08.3 … (3) Bennett Harrison-Michaels, Rose, 16:20.2 … (4) Sully Anez, Will, 16:29.1 … (5) Robert Mechura, Rose, 16:29.2
WILLMAR — (4) Anez … (13) Colin O’Farrell 17:00.5 … (48) Brandan Zepeda 18:11.2 … (52) Ryan Kuhlman 18:17.1 (55) Kory Behm 18:21.2
Girls
Team scoring
(1) St. Paul Highland Park 45 … (2) Wayzata 63 … (3) Champlin Park 87 … (4) Willmar 101 … (5) Maple Grove 118 … (6) Chanhassen 133 … (7) Eden Prairie 163 … (8) Chaska 213
Individual
TOP FIVE — (1) Isabella Roemer, Chan, 18:33.1 … (2) Marissa Long, Chan, 18:39.2 … (3) Abby Hibbs, CP, 18:47.3 … (4) Molly Moening, SPHP, 19:02.1 … (5) Lauren Eilers, Will, 19:10.1
WILLMAR — (5) L. Eilers … (14) Erin Eilers 19:45.5 … (22) Nina Dawson 20:20.8 … (29) Lyndi Koosman 20:54.2 … (31) Sophia Quinn 20:56.9