By Rand Middleton
WILLMAR -- The first-place Willmar boys ran up a perfect score of 15 and the Cardinal girls took second behind Moorhead at the Willmar Optimist Cross Country Meet on Saturday.
Abdi Awale led a Cardinal train to the finish line near the No. 15 tee box at the Eagle Creek Golf Club. Awale covered the 5,000 meter course in 16:06, He was followed by teammates Mustafa Yusuf in 16:28, Kaafi Adeys in 16:542, Mohamed Bedel in 16:45 and Mahad Hassan in 16:48. Awale also won last year on the same course in 16:44. It was the second time this season that the Willmar boys have notched a perfect 15, the first coming Sept. 14 in Hutchinson.
Moorhead was almost as dominant in the girls' 4k. Winner Hannah Stordahl paced five Spuds in the top six. Willmar was 60 points back in second place led by freshman Jackie Johnson in 10th place. She was followed closely by Danielle Erickson in 12th place and Emily Ellingson in 13th pace. Britta Pederson in 21st and Vanessa Englemann in 23rd finished out the top five for Willmar.
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Both Willmar teams put in a grueling week of practice before this meet, tiny in numbers compared to the Roy Griak Invitational with a field of 45 teams and over 400 runners. But the No. 1 Willmar boys won both to remain undefeated.
BOYS
Team scoring
(1) Willmar 15 (2) Moorhead 47 (3) Forests Lake 86 (4) Cretin-Derham Hall 140 (5) Trinity School at Riveridge, Bloomington 158 (6) Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 173 (7) Dassel-Cokato 229
Individual
TOP FIVE -- (1) Abdi Awale, Wil, 16:07 (2) Mustafa Yusuf, Wil, 16:28 (3) Kaafi Adeys, Wil, 16:42 (4) Mohamed Bedel, Wil, 16:45 (5) Mahad Hassan, Wil, 16:48
WILLMAR -- (1) Awale (2) Yusuf (3) Adeys (4) Bedel (5) Hassan (10) Andrew Nicklawsky 17:38 (12) Scott Boros 17:44 (18) Zach Coquyt 18:20
GIRLS
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Team scoring
(1) Moorhead 19 (2) Willmar 79 (I3) Forest Lake 90 (4) Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 99 (5) Cretin-Derham Hall 107 (6) Trinity School at Riveridge, Bloomington 207 (7) Dassel-Cokato, incomplete
Individual
TOP FIVE -- (1) Hannah Stordahl, Mhd, 15:59 (2) Laura Docherty, CDH, 16:06.0 (3) Rachel Mjones, Mhd, 16:10 (4) Kaylee Litch, Mhd, 16:?11 (5) Leah Hansen, Mhd, 16:14
WILLMAR -- (10) Jackie Johnson 17:02 (12) Danielle Erickson 17:12 (13) Emily Ellingson 17:13 (21) Britta Pederson 17:37 (23) Vanessa Engelmann 17:48 (30) Carlie Freese 18:11 (31) Brin Hanson 18:12
