Another meet, another top two finish for Albert Lea cross country runner Chrissy Monson.

Not even an untied shoelace could stop Monson as she took second place Thursday at the Mayo Invitational at Eastwood Golf Course with a time of 15 minutes, 32.18 seconds, less than nine seconds behind first place finisher Caitlin Hewes of Stillwater.

Monson’s shoelace came untied halfway through the race, but she continued on and finished the race with a second place finish.

“Chrissy Monson had another fabulous meet,” Tigers head coach Jim Haney said. “She is such a great competitor and loves to compete with the best runners in southern Minnesota.”

The girls’ team finished 12th out of 23 teams with 343 points in the 4-kilometer meet. Stillwater won the meet with a team time of 1:21:13.09, Eastview finished second with at time of 1:23:05.43 and Dover-Eyota-St. Charles finished third with a time of 1:23:43.58.

The Albert Lea boys’ team also finished 12th in the meet and Ethan Marquardt led the Tigers with a fifth place finish. Albert Lea finished with a team time of 1:35:52.42.

“He continues to prove that he is one of the top runners in southern Minnesota as well as in the state of Minnesota,” Haney said of Marquardt. “He took care of business on a very difficult course.”

Owatonna won the meet with a team time of 1:27:45.03 and Stillwater placed second with a team time of 1:28:02.20. St. Paul Central finished third with a time of 1:28:32.01 in the 5K race.

Jacob Bastyr, of Owatonna, won the meet with a time of 16:47.55 and Marquardt came in with a time of 17:03.78. Steven Kruen was the next best finisher for the Tigers with a time of 18:31.87.

Haney expects Marquardt to come out stronger in the team’s next meet.

“I look for Ethan to take charge at out next meet in Fairmont,” Haney said. “His goal will be to be in the top three and I think that is well within his reach.”

Haney described the Mayo meet as a similar meet to the conference and section meet.

“The runners are gaining in confidence and are feeling better about what they are able to do in big meets,” Haney said. “The Mayo meet is a valuable learning tool for the pressure they will be running under during the Big Nine and section meets.”

Entering the meet Haney was hoping to beat six teams and the Tigers came out ahead of 11 teams, which signaled progress for Haney.

“I was very pleased with the team results at the Mayo meet,” Haney said. “As a team we are making progress of peaking at the Big Nine and section meets.”