BRAYDEN HENELY of Webster City competes on Tuesday evening at the North Central Conference meet in Humboldt. (Photo by Britt Kudla)

HUMBOLDT — Aaron Lursen put an exclamation point on his career at the North Central Conference cross country meet here Tuesday evening.

Lursen, a St. Edmond senior, captured his second consecutive race title, helping the No. 11 (Class 1A) Gaels finish third overall.

Algona, with 45 points, held off Clear Lake for the team title, as the Lions tallied 8. St. Edmond was third with 50 followed by Humboldt, Webster City, Iowa Falls-Alden/AGWSR and Hampton-Dumont/CAL.

Webster City senior Brayden Henely was 13th in 19:30. Aiden Rahe (21st in 20:14.33), Tristen Maxwell (31st in 21:47.28), Jack Barner (34th in 21:51.97), Owen Patterson (37th in 22:25.09), Kyzer Zinnel (38th in 22:30.37) and Justin Callahan (40th in 23:01.94) were next in line for the Lynx.

“The boys ran a nice team race despite being beat up. I’m proud of the way they competed,” WCHS head coach Derek Turner said. “Brayden led the way and nearly cracked the Top-10. The rest of our boys ran well and pushed one another throughout the race.”

Lursen once again was able to top fellow senior Ryan Stundahl of Algona, as the SEHS runner clocked in at 17:22.84 compared to 17:45.26 by Stundahl. Clear Lake senior Jack Crane was third overall.

Lursen is the first Gael runner to win two league races, joining 2001 NCC champion Cody Solverson, 2011 titleist Nate Kolacia and Harrison Mayer, who claimed gold in 2015.

The Gaels had two more finishers among the first 10, as junior Sam Mericle placed seventh in 18:55.64 and sophomore Liam Shannon was 10th in 19:11.82.

Along with Stundahl’s runner-up showing, Algona had three runners in the Top-5, as junior Jace Mortensen placed fourth in 18:12.49 and freshman Gavin Weber was fifth in 18:44.67.

Humboldt’s Gabe Thumma, another ninth-grader, earned a Top-10 by placing ninth in 19:07.60 on his home course.

Isaac Wilson was 16th and Sam Tiili 18th for Algona.

Christopher Greenfield of Clarion-Goldfield/Dows was 22nd overall.