REGIONAL RUNNERS — Fairmont's Laura Thompson (left) and Macy Hanson competed in the Nike Cross Regional on Sunday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota — The 2021 cross country competitive season did not end for Fairmont senior standout Laura Thompson and freshman phenom Macy Hanson at the Minnesota State High School League’s Class AA state meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield on Nov. 6.

Only eight days later, Thompson and Hanson laced up their shoes, attached their bib numbers, stepped to the starting line, and were off and running at the sound of the starter’s pistol at the Nike Cross Regionals in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Thompson covered the 5,000-meter course in the Heartland Regional’s women’s championship bracket on Sunday in a time of 18:11.6 to pocket 24th place out of the 190-runner field.

Hanson crossed the finish line at Yankton Trail Park with a 5K time of 18:39.3 to capture 55th place during the invitation-only regional that was comprised of elite runners from Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Thompson and Hanson each earned all-state accolades during the MSHSL’s Class AA state competition by placing sixth (18:57.84) and seventh (18:57.89), respectively.

Last week, Thompson signed a national letter of intent to compete for Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in both cross country and long-distance track next school year.

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SQUIRTS OPEN 2-1

The Fairmont Squirt ‘B’ hockey team opened the season with a 2-1 record during weekend ice action on the road.

Ryder Thate amassed a game-best five goals — one in the opening period, two more in the second and two goals again in the third — to power Fairmont to a 7-3 victory over Worthington on Saturday in Worthington.

Kane Wohlhuter and Bennett Draper each contributed one goal to Fairmont’s winning ways.

Windom Yellow then posted a 4-1 win over Fairmont on Sunday in Windom.

Hogan Artz prevented Fairmont from getting shut out by scoring a goal in the third period for Fairmont.

Thate then generated a hat trick to help trigger Fairmont’s 5-0 triumph over Windom Blue during its second game on Sunday in Windom.

Wohlhuter and Draper contributed solo goals to the winning performance.

Fairmont Squirts ‘B’ team (2-1) travels to Luverne on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. face-off.

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VOSS SIGNS LETTER

Jackson County Central senior spiking sensation Sadie Voss has signed a national letter of intent to play volleyball for the University of Sioux Falls next season.

The hard-hitting 6-foot all-arounder powered the Huskies to runner-up team accolades to Sauk Centre during Saturday’s Class AA state volleyball tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Voss hammered out a match-best 22 kills for Jackson County Central during a four-set championship match loss to the Mainstreeters to earn selection to the MSHSL’s Class AA all-state volleyball tournament team.

On a side note, the multi-tasking Voss actually played soccer for Fairmont Area during the first half of the Covid-influenced 2020 fall sports season. Voss later returned to the JCC volleyball court during the second half of last year’s rare split fall campaign.