STRONG START — Fairmont’s trio of Macy Hanson (left), Carys Gudahl (middle) and Season Kotewa run to the front of the pack during the early stages of the Early Bird Invitational on Friday morning in Fairmont. Hanson went on to win the varsity girls’ race. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Fairmont’s Macy Hanson beat the field, as well as the heat and humidity, to win the Early Bird cross country invitational on Friday in Fairmont.

The meet was a 4K, instead of a 5K, due to the heat and humidity.

Hanson was comfortably in front at the halfway mark and cruised to the win, finishing with a time of 16:31.9.

Jackson County Central’s Elese Paplow claimed runner-up honors with a time of 17:37.6, while Huskies teammate Cora Pauling was third in 17:47.7.

In the team results, St. Peter won the girls race with 39 points, followed by Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey with 58, Fairmont with 64, JCC with 92, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet with 118 and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton with 127.

“Macy had a big lead at the half and wasn’t pushed,” Fairmont co-head coach Stew Murfield said. “I was a little surprised our girls took third behind St. Peter and Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey. It was a nice meet, but the heat made it tough on the girls.”

Blue Earth Area also competed, but only had three girls in the race.

Fairmont’s other scorers were Carys Gudahl, who was 10th with a time of 18:46; Gwyneth Schultz, who was 17th with a time of 19:44.1; Kendra Blomster, who was 20th with a time of 19:53.5 and Season Kotewa, who was 22nd with a time of 20:06.3.

Rylee Maday, Norah Traetow and Elizabeth Hart also ran for Fairmont, placing 43rd at 25:33.9, 45th at 25:37.2 and 49th at 27:39.1, respectively.

For Blue Earth Area, Aubrey Woodwick finished eighth overall with a time of 18:27.6, Sidney Eitzmann placed 18th with a time of 19:44.4 and Leah Becker was 37th with a time of 24:13.5.

“This meet helps the kids get some reps in to start the season,” BEA team manager Lullianna Frank said. “The heat and humidity has made it tougher on the kids.”

Fairmont’s boys placed second with 68 points and Blue Earth Area was seventh with 176 points.

Mountain Lake Area/Comrey won the boys race with 48 points, with JCC placing third at 72, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/ Nicollet fourth with 79, St. Peter with 108 and Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda with 158.

“I like this running in this meet,” BEA head coach Peter Koenig said. “It gets everyone back in race mode.”

“There are some good runners in the boys meet, but I think the boys did pretty well today,” Murfield said. “The heat made it tougher on them, but I would rather have everyone peak at the end of the season when it’s better to run in the cooler weather.”

Fairmont had three runners finish in the top 10 — Gavin Artner, who was sixth with a time of 14:16.8; Brier Lenort, who was eighth at 14:45.9; and Cooper Gudahl, who was ninth with a time of 15:02.2.

Their other two scorers were Landon Weber and Isaac Stone, who placed 23rd and 24th with times of 15:59.0 and 16:1.2, respectively.

Fairmont’s other runners in the meet were Will Niestrath, 25th with a time of 16:19.1; Jaydon Putney, 26th with a time of 16:21.3; Ben Moeller, 30th at 16:55.6; Braydon Lindsay, 33rd at 17:06.3; Andrew Haugen, 34th at 17:06.8; Sebastian Castro, 45th at 18:19.1; and Landen Pederson, 57th at 21:43.6.

BEA’s runners scoring points in the meet were Brady Lorenz, 21st with a time of 15:55.8; Devin Haase, 37th with a time of 17:21.6; Seth Mathews, 47th with a time of 19:00.5; Marcus Eckles, 52nd with a time of 20:06.0; and Gibson Haase, 54th with a time of 21:19.3.

Oliver Ankeny, Manav Chaudhari and Julian Rodriguez also competed for BEA, finishing 58th, 59th and 65th with times of 22:06.4, 23:14.5 and 27:05.5, respectively.

The next competition for both Fairmont and Blue Earth Area is the Paul Metcalf Invitational at 10 a.m. next Friday at the Mountain Lake Golf Course.

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2023 Early Bird Invite

Varsity Girls Standings: 1. St. Peter 39 points, 2. Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 58, 3. Fairmont 64, 4. Jackson County Central 92, 5. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 118, 6. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 127.

Varsity Boys Standings: 1. Mountain Lake Area/Comrey 48, 2. Fairmont 68, 3. JCC 72, 4. LCWM/Nicollet 79, 5. St. Peter 108, 6. Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 158, 7. Blue Earth Area 170.