DULUTH &045; The United South Central/Alden-Conger cross country teams made a good showing at the Swain Invitational in Duluth Saturday.

The boys placed fourth behind Eveleth-Gilbert, Minnehaha Academy and Warroad &045; all rated among the top eight in the state.

Eric Youngblom continued to lead the Rebels, finishing 15th. Brad Tomschin (27th), Bryan Hauge (46th), Jacob Elmer (66th), Matt Mueller (73rd), Spencer Niebuhr (79th), and Greg Opseth (88th) were the other Rebel competitors. The race had 210 runners with approximately 45 teams represented.

“I think the boys ran very well in view of the fact they came back with only two days rest after running hard at Northfield Thursday,&uot; said Rebels coach Kent Viesselman. “The Duluth course is one of the tougher courses we run, and I’m sure they were just a little leg-weary coming into the meet, whether they would admit it or not, especially our younger runners.”

This is a great experience for our kids,&uot; added Viesselman. “They

get to run against a lot of teams, teams

they haven’t seen before, and the course is a challenging one. It does a lot for their development as competitors.”

The girls, still functioning without two of their top runners, finished 10th.

Lindsey Rauenhorst again led the Rebels, finishing 24th. Megan Jensen (39th), Becca Bryson (54th),

Joelle Elmer (76th), Marah Robinson (101st),

and Rachel Brown (108th) were the other USC/AC competitors.

“Missing two of our runners, especially two runners of the caliber of Jamie (Klein) and Katie (Schultz), makes a huge difference in a meet of this size,&uot; said Viesselman. &uot;The girls who ran, ran well. As near as I can figure, slipping those two back into the lineup puts us among the top three, where we belong. Both Jamie and Katie have started running again and we’re hoping they’ll be back at full speed soon.”

A highlight for the large number of local fans who made the trip to Duluth was the second-place finish

of the boys’ JV team.

“Our JV boys are tough,” said Viesselman. “The entire JV team has really been improving the last two weeks or so. Erik (Melby), Sam (Hallman), and Leo (Vondracek) all looked especially strong. It is quite an accomplishment to finish in the top 10 in a meet of this caliber, and we had three individuals

do that. We’re really pleased with their progress.&uot;

The varsity boys took sixth in Thursday’s Northfield Invitational. The girls did not compete.

The Rebels are off until Tuesday, Oct. 12, when they host the No Frills meet at Oak View Golf Course.

&uot;It looks like our meet has really worked out well for us,&uot; said Viesselman. &uot;We’ve got about a 10-day break in the competition. We should be able to get everyone healthy and up to speed before we enter the final phases of the season.”