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Luverne runners sweep fields in Jackson

By John RittenhouseLuverne cross country squads swept the boys’ and girls’ varsity team titles at the Jackson County Central Invitational in Jackson Thursday.In a meet that also attracted Adrian, the Cardinals proved to be the top teams in the field.The LHS boys tallied 34 points to win the nine-team event. The Cardinal girls emerged as the top squad in an eight-team field after scoring 37 points."We had a tremendous meet," said Cardinal coach Bruce Gluf. "Our boys ran like they were possessed. They were not listed in the Top 20 teams when the state’s Class A cross country rankings came out, and they want to get back their respect. Our girls had a great meet, too."Five solid performances turned in by Tom Ward, Thomas Pinkal, Steve Schneiderman, Nick Otten and Dusty Antoine carried the LHS boys to victory. Ward placed fifth in 17:12, Pinkal seventh in 17:57, Schneiderman eighth in 17:59, Otten ninth in 17:59 and Antoine 10th in 18:08.Travis Halfmann (12th in 18:08), David Nelson (44th in 19:52), Craig Oeding (48th in 20:00), Michael Nelson (60th in 20:30), Eric Kraetsch (77th in 21:40), Tyler Muck (92nd in 24:54) and Jerome Willers (94th in 25:04) also ran in the varsity race for LHS.Three Cardinal girls finished fifth or better as individuals during their win in varsity competition.Lexi Heitkamp won the individual crown with a time of 15:20. Amanda Saum and Kayla Raddle placed fourth and fifth with respective 16:00 and 16:42 times.Kelsey Dooyema and Amanda Kannas capped the team scoring for LHS by placing 11th and 20th in 16:42 and 17:14.Kristy Heikes (27th in 17:44), Ashley Kraetsch (79th in 21:15) and Christy Van Dyke (85th in 21:55) ran in the varsity race without influencing the scoring.Adrian, which placed sixth as a team in the boys’ field, was paced by Brandon Bullerman’s 32nd-place finish in 19:15.Lee Stover (35th in 19:23), Ethan Wieneke (38th in 19:35), Jarod Boltjes (39th in 19:40) and Robert Swayze (42nd in 19:48) made contributions to Adrian’s team effort.Aaron Mormann (45th in 19:54), Brad Brake (54th in 20:09), Bryce Antelope (56th in 20:16), Jack Albertson (68th in 20:42), Dustin Lonneman (76th in 21:16), Eldon Vaselaar (95th in 25:09) and Trent Lutmer (100th in 26:29) ran the varsity race without padding the team tally.Adrian ran an incomplete team in the girls’ varsity race.Leslie Stover (sixth in 16:05), Erica Thier (eighth in 16:08), Megan Henning (37th in 18:15) and Kelly Banck (51st in 18:50) represented AHS in the varsity field.Here is a look at the team standings and the junior high results from the JCC Invitational.Girls’ standings: Luverne 37, Martin County West 46, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 107, Comfrey-Springfield 120, Blue Earth Area 144, Worthington 152, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 261, St. Peter 302.Boys’ standings: Luverne 34, BEA 50, St. Peter 91, JCC 106, C-S 121, Adrian 171, Worthington 180, MCW 207, ML-B-O 225.Junior high boysLuverne: Davonte Maine, 10th, 6:10; Nick Den Herder, 36th, 8:51.Adrian: Nathan Reyne, first, 5:29; Ross Wieneke, third, 5:36; Kyle Henning, sixth, 6:00; Zach Runia, seventh, 6:07; Jordan Pater, 16th, 6:29; Nick Kellen, 19th, 6:40; Huston Heitkamp, 20th, 6:58; Nick McCann, 29th, 7:40.Junior high girlsLuverne: Rachel Saum, sixth, 6:41; Whitney Oehlerts, 22nd, 7:24.Adrian: Hailee Heitkamp, 22nd, 6:03; Anna Sauer, 15th, 7:00; Alissa Sauer, 30th, 7:40; Samantha Vaselaar, 40th, 8:33.

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