SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Willmar boys, paced by a 1-2 finish from defending individual champion Nadir Yusuf and Mohamed Noor, repeated as team champions at the Nike Heartland Preview Cross Country Meet on Saturday at Yankton Trail Park.
The Cardinals girls came up just short defending their team title as they were edged by 12 points by Minnetonka, Minnesota’s top-ranked Class AA team. The Cardinals did place Jessa Hanson (second-18:35.65), Sophie Schmitz (third-18:39.47) and Kayle Rudie (fifth-18:45.30) in the top five.
Last year Schmitz was second (19:20.36), Hanson fourth (19:39.89) and Rudie fifth (19:49.54).
Yusuf shaved over a minute off his time at last year’s meet as the senior finished Saturday in 15:59.02. Yusuf crossed the finish line just over five seconds ahead of Noor, a junior who clocked a time of 16:05.08.
Ian Thompson finished a position lower this year, but the Willmar senior’s fourth-place time of 16:17.59 was over a minute faster than last year.
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“Our kids ran exceptionally well, especially considering we were running two races in three days in what would be considered very large and competitive meets,” said Willmar coach Jerry Popp. “They ran very smart races with strong finishes that resulted in many season and even lifetime personal bests.”
The Willmar girls were without freshman Heidi Schmitz (illness) and Serena Monson (injury).
Freshmen Cael Carlson (24th-17:17.02) and Harley Anez (33rd-17:31.22) rounded out the top five times for the Willmar boys. The Cardinals’ score of 61 was 32 points better than runner-up Sioux Falls Christian.
Freshman Leah Hansen was 23rd in 19:54.43 and junior Savannah Anez came in 28th at 20:09.07 to post the Willmar girls’ No. 4 and 5 times.
The girls were coming off a first-place finish Thursday at the Monticello Invite, where the boys finished second. Both squads won team titles in the season-opening Shocky Strand Invitational on Aug. 31 at Moorhead.
Willmar’s next meet is Thursday at Hutchinson.
BOYS
Team scoring
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(1) Willmar 61 (2) Sioux Falls Christian 93 (3) Lincoln North Star 103 (4) RC Stevens 107 (5) West Central 121 (6) Brookings 125 (7) Sioux Falls Ogorman 162 (8) Spearfish 246 (9) Worthington 274 (10) Flandreau Indian 308 (11) Ethan-Parkston 310 (12) Harrusburg 310 (13) Huron 348 (14) Madison 384 (15) St. Thomas More 390 (16) Cheyenne-Eagle Butte 396 (17) Gregory Schools 421
Individual
TOP FIVE - (1) Nadir Yusaf, Wil, 15:59.02 (2) Mohamed Noor, Wil, 16:05.08 (3) Derick Peters, WC, 16:09.32 (4) Ian Thompson, Wil, 16:17.59 (5) Tiegen Lindner, SFO, 16:18.97
WILLMAR - (1) Yusaf (2) Noor (4) Thompson (24) Cael Carlson 17:17.02 (33) Harley Anez 17:31.22 (48) Ibrahim Ismail 17:52.93
GIRLS
Team scoring
(1) Minnetonka 47 (2) Willmar 59 (3) RC Stevens 98 (4) Sioux Falls Ogorman 138 (5) Lincoln North Star 172 (6) RC Central 181 (7) St. Thomas More 202 (8) Mt. Vernon-Plank 222 (9) Sioux Falls Christian 234 (10) Madison 249 (11) Gayville-Volin 294 (12) Spearfish 296 (13) Harrisburg 299 (14) Cheyenne-Eagle Butte 334 (15) Worthington 385 (16) Huron 397
Individual
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TOP FIVE - (1) Sophie Whicher, Min, 17:52.82 (2) Jessa Hanson, Wil, 18:35.65 (3) Sophie Schmitz, Wil, 18:39.47 (4) Jamie Schweiss, RCS, 18:39.58 (5) Kayla Rudie, Wil, 18:45.30
WILLMAR - (2) Hanson (3) Schmitz (5) Rudie (23) Leah Hansen 19:54.43 (28) Savannah Anez 20:09.07 (30) Courtney Hanson 20:14.78
