WORTHINGTON — Fairmont ran to first and third place at the 2018 Turkey Trot cross country meet at Prairie View Golf Links in Worthington Thursday.

The Cardinal girls placed first in the 5K run with 46 points, five ahead of second-place Murray County Central.

Laura Thompson was the first Fairmont girl to cross the finish line when she ran into the chute at 20:23.1, good for second place overall behind an outstanding 18:42.1 time from Murray County Central’s Morgan Gehl.

Sarah Krumholz wasn’t far behind Thompson, finishing in 20:39.8 for third place.

Tabitha Thatcher was the next Fairmont runner to finish when she crossed in 10th place with a time of 22:10.2. Fairmont’s Hannah Neusch (22:20.5) finished in 11th place overall in the 99-competitor race.

The final contributing Fairmont score came from Emma Gudahl, who finished 23rd overall in 23:16.5.

Becca Lunn (24:05.3) was next to cross for Fairmont in 32nd overall. Eleanor Hamlet (24:24.8) and Kobi Malo (24:26.3) were close behind, placing 38th and 39th, respectively. Corene Moeller crossed the line at 24:41.9 for 42nd.

Angelica Kerekes (28:11.2) and Hannah Linse (28:16.7) finished 69th and 70th, respectively, and Makena Rodriguez finished 72nd with a time of 28:27.9.

Kara Fischer finished in 30:50.9 for 87th, Yatzi Balderas finished in 31:12.5 for 89th and Emily Kerekes finished in 32:42.4 for 93rd to round out the Fairmont girls runners.

Cardinals head coach Bob Bonk said he was pleased with the first-place finish, though there is still room to improve.

“It was solid, it wasn’t spectacular,” Bonk said. “This was a somewhat difficult day to run in, the wind and heat are probably the two toughest things for distance runners. The heat wasn’t too bad, but the wind was pretty strong on those long straightaways, but it was a satisfactory performance. I’m very happy to get first place, there’s something special about getting first.

“I thought Hannah Neusch in particular finished higher than expected, she was a very solid fourth runner for us.”

Fairmont’s boys finished third overall with a team score of 101 behind St. James and host Worthington.

Andrew Moeller led Fairmont with his 13th-place finish in 17:56. Connor Artner was close behind by finishing 15th in 17:59.6 and William Saari was the third Fairmont runner to cross the line when he finished in 18:18.6, good for 20th overall in the 156-person race.

Tony Ortega (18:43.4) and Darrian Kueker (18:54.5) contributed the final two point-scoring times for Fairmont in 26th and 27th, respectively.

Charles Garbers placed 43rd with a time of 19:25.4, while Jacob Lueth (19:31.6) and Cesar Flores (19:35.6) placed 47th and 48th, respectively.

Michael Johnson was the final runner to cross in 20:32.7 for 62nd to put all Fairmont boys in the top half of finishers.

Bonk said he was happy with the boys’ finish and thought it would have been tough to overtake St. James or Worthington.

“I think third realistically was the highest we could have gotten,” Bonk said. “Worthington is having a tremendous year and St. James is a very highly-ranked team in our class. I felt the gap between us and them could have been a bit closer, but there are a few really good teams right behind us, so I was very happy we could finish better than those next three teams. I thought it was a pretty good pack run. All the guys finished well into the top half of the race. We’ve got work to do, we come back Monday for a tough meet at home.”

Fairmont plays host to Albert Lea, United South Central and Minnesota Valley Lutheran in the girls portion of the Cardinal Invitational at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Cedar Creek Park, while the boys’ field will feature the host Cardinals, Tigers, Rebels, Chargers and Mankato West.

2018 Turkey Trot Invite

At Prairie View Golf Links in Worthington

Varsity Girls (5K)

Team Standings: 1. Fairmont 46; 2. Murray County Central 51; 3. Pipestone 94; 4. Southwest Minnesota Christian 100; 5. Mountain Lake Area 129; 6. Worthington 154; 7. St. James 179; 8. Adrian 184; 9. Jackson County Central 238.

Individual Results (Top 15): 1. Morgan Gehl (MCC) 18:42.1; 2. Laura Thompson (FMT) 20:23.1; 3. Sarah Krumholz (FMT) 20:39.8; 4. Alejandra Acevedo (SJ) 20:50; 5. Moriah Bullerman (Adrian) 21:10.9; 6. Gracie Bucher (Windom) 21:45.2; 7. Jonna Strasser (Pipestone) 21:54.4; 8. Ella Veldkamp (SWC) 22:00.1; 9. Sena Uli (Worthington) 22:02.3; 10. Tabitha Thatcher (FMT); 11. Hannah Neusch (FMT) 22:20.5; 12. Ashley Overgaauw (MCC) 22:22; 13. Amanda Overgaauw (MCC) 22:22.8; 14. Ryanna Schreier (MCC) 22:32.1; 15. Josie Harms (MCC) 22:34.1.

Other Fairmont Results: 23. Emma Gudahl 23:16.5; 32. Becca Lunn 24:05.3; 38. Eleanor Hamlet 24:24.8; 39. Kobi Malo 24:26.3; 42. Corene Moeller 24:41.9; 69. Angelica Kerekes 28:11.2; 70. Hannah Linse 28:16.7; 72. Makena Rodriguez 28:27.9; 87. Kara Fischer 30:50.9; 89. Yatzi Balderas 31:12.5; 93. Emily Kerekes 32:42.4.

•

Varsity Boys (5K)

Team Results: 1. Worthington 33; 2. St. James 42; 3. Fairmont 101; 4. Murray County Central 115; 5. Mountain Lake Area 119; 6. Windom 155; 7. Pipestone 157; 8. Jackson County Central 260; 9. Southwest Minnesota Christian 261; 10. Heron Lake-Okabena 290; 11. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 312.

Individual Results (Top 15): 1. Adam Koller (Worthington) 16:45.8; 2. Dalton Piotter (MLC) 16:53.1; 3. Christian Lietz (Worthington) 17:08; 4. Andrew Huber (Worthington) 17:13.6; 5. Seth Pierson (SJ) 17:20.3; 6. Justin Clarke (MCC) 17:32.5; 7. Jackson Miest (SJ) 17:35.3; 8. Troy Parulski (SJ 17:35.9; 9. Ryan Blomgren (MLC) 17:37.8; 10. Alex Knickrehm (SJ) 17:48.4; 11. Jordan Melendez (Worthington) 17:45.4; 12. Mauricio Vite (SJ) 17:48.4; 13. Andrew Moeller (FMT) 17:56; 14. Mikele Walu (Worthington) 17:57.1; 15. Connor Artner (FMT) 17:59.6.

Other Fairmont Results: 20. William Saari 18:18.6; 26. Tony Ortega 18:43.4; 27. Darrian Kueker 18:54.5; 43. Charles Garbers 19:25.4; 47. Jacob Lueth 19:31.6; 48. Cesar Flores 19:35.6; Michael Johnson 20:32.7.

•

Junior High Girls (1.15 mile)

Team Results: 1. Pipestone 25; 2. Southwest Minnesota Christian 53; 3. Murray County Central 55; 4. Mountain Lake Area 117; 5. Worthington 126; 6. Fairmont 155.

Individual Results (Top 5): 1. Ellie Decker (SWC) 7:30.8; 2. Brooklyn Goelz (Pipestone) 7:34.8; 3. Avery Brecher (Pipestone) 7:35.4; 4. Brylei Schreier (MCC) 7:47.5; 5. Naomi Wallace (Pipestone) 7:50.9.

Fairmont Results: 28. Lily Higgins 8:53.3; 40. Bethany Thatcher 9:33.9; 42. Lacy DeJaynes 9:41.3; 49. Jaylin Miller 10:04.2; 55. Ashley Muller 10:34.2.

Junior High Boys (1.15 mile)

Team Results: 1. Worthington 46; 2. St. James 58; 3. Jackson County Central 77; 4. Windom 78; 5. Pipestone 130; 6. Fairmont 134.

Individual Results (Top 5): 1. Sam Pidde (MLC) 6:38.2; 2. Tim Salentiny (HLO) 6:42.4; 3. Charlie Brands (Worthington) 6:45.2; 4. Kody Wassman (MLC) 6:47.3; 5. Carter Johnson (JCC) 6:48.9.

Fairmont Results: 19. Alex Cruz 7:19.6; 28. Gavin Artner 7:36.6; 50. Blake Hilgendorf 8:31.2; 53. Ben Moeller 9:03; 60. Reece Buntjer 9:35.4; 68. Alex Kastning 10:17.7.