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Everything goes according to plan for Lynx at Algona

BEST RACE OF SEASON NETS WCHS BOYS 2ND PLACE; BERG A STRONG 5TH RUNNER

ALGONA — This is what Derek Turner has been waiting for — a day when all of the pieces to the puzzle correctly fit into place. And he says the results speak for themselves.

Webster City’s rookie cross country coach watched his front pack go stride for stride near the front of the field and the back end of his squad compete for places at Monday’s Algona Invitational, as the Lynx turned in their best performance of the season.

“We had the complete package (on Monday), one through five,” Turner said after WCHS finished in the runner-up slot behind North Central Conference rival and 12th-ranked (Class 3A) Humboldt. “Last year we didn’t run well at this course for some reason and that was one of the things we wanted to change this year, and it was definitely our best race of the year so far.”

Humboldt won convincingly with 60 points, while WCHS (105) held off a slew of challengers for the second spot. Mason City (111), Clear Lake (130) and St. Edmond (150) completed the top five in a field that included 19 full teams.

The difference between placing second and fifth was the performance from No. 5 runner Codey Berg, who broke his previous personal best time by 50 seconds. He vaulted all the way up to 59th in 19:17 to give WCHS that final score it needed to haul in the silver.

“Codey Berg had a heck of a race and that made all the difference as far as our team score goes,” Turner said. “It was one of those days where everything came together.”

Jacob Willson continued to lead the squad, but he had familiar company in the form of teammates Matt Perin and Jose Ramirez. The three ran in lockstep for much of the race; Willson pushed forward late to finish seventh in 17:28. Perin and Ramirez turned in matching times of 17:45 to place eighth and ninth, respectively.

“They were tied together the whole race,” Turner said. “I’m really happy for those three guys because they work their butts off in practice every day. They do everything right, and those were the happiest guys on the course when they saw Codey finish.”

Cole Reiling, who set the pace that Berg tried to match early on, was 22nd in 18:13.

Humboldt’s Quinton Orr continued his unbeaten season with another easy individual victory. He crossed in 15:43.

Emma Peck, Kaelyn Butz and Jacie Crutcher continued to lead the WCHS girls’ team, but No. 4 runner Allison Oswald was again missing due to a hip injury and that curtailed any hopes the Lynx had of a high team finish.

“We’re pretty beat up on the girls side right now,” Turner said after his crew compiled 289 points to place 12th. “But it was a good race for our top three.”

Peck reclaimed the status as team leader after a 26th-place result in 22:24. Kaelyn Butz also broke 23 minutes; she was 37th in 22:50. Crutcher wasn’t far behind, as she came home in 23:11 to take 45th.

“Our goal was to get all three girls under 23 minutes and we almost had that,” Turner said. “That’s a really good race for all three of them. I can’t complain one bit about that.”

Carly Appel (101st, 28:24) and Brynna Croy (102nd, 29:22) rounded out the team scoring.

WCHS will head to Pine Lake in Eldora on Saturday to take part in the South Hardin Invite.

Algona Invitational

Monday at River Road Golf Course

Algona

GIRLS RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Spencer 56; 2. Mason City 80; 3. Charles City 82; 4. Okoboji 116; 5. St. Edmond 125; 6. Algona 177; 7. Humboldt 210; 8. Emmetsburg 235; 9. Spirit Lake 254; 10. West Bend-Mallard 257; 11. Pocahontas Area 273; 12. Webster City 289; 13. Fort Dodge 299; 14. Estherville-Lincoln Central 330; 15. Clear Lake 356.

Individual Winner — Kiki Connell, Charles City, 18:34.

Webster City Results

26. Emma Peck 22:24; 37. Kaelyn Butz 22:50; 45. Jacie Crutcher 23:11; 101. Carly Appel 28:24; 102. Brynna Croy 29:22.

BOYS RESULTS

Team Standings

1. Humboldt 60; 2. Webster City 105; 3. Mason City 111; 4. Clear Lake 130; 5. St. Edmond 150; 6. Okoboji 173; 7. Spencer 179; 8. Fort Dodge 183; 9. Spirit Lake 263; 10. Algona 279; 11. Algona Garrigan 282; 12. Charles City 294; 13. Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 326; 14. Pocahontas Area 402; 15. North Union 402; 16. Estherville-Lincoln Central 426; 17. Eagle Grove 438; 18. Emmetsburg 438; 19. GTRA 529.

Individual Winner — Quinton Orr, Humboldt, 15:43.

Webster City Results

7. Jacob Willson 17:28; 8. Matt Perin 17:45; 9. Jose Ramirez 17:45; 22. Cole Reiling 18:13; 59. Codey Berg 19:17; 81. Reece Sadler 20:05; 104. Wyatt Bingham 21:18.

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