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After a week to prepare, the Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to Owatonna to compete in the Big Nine Conference meet Tuesday afternoon.

A young girls team continued to improve upon their season times, while the seasoned boys team finished in eighth place overall with one runner in the top five.

Junior Gavin Hanke continued his streak of being the top runner for the boys’ team, finishing in fourth place with a time of 16:55.09. Hanke was followed by sophomore Isaiah McGaffey in 44th place with a time of 18:20.16 and junior Pacey Brekke in 53rd place with a time of 18:39.29. Also making an impact on the team score were junior Luke Wangsness and senior Henrik Lange. Wangsness finished in 54th place with  a time of 18:42.18 and Lange finished in 64th place with a time of 18:57.05.

Owatonna won the team event with a score of 38, and Mankato East sophomore Isaiah Anderson won the race with a time of 16:08.03.

On the girls’ side, Albert Lea was once again led by junior Jai Maligaya in 39th place with a time of 21:37.82. Seventh grader Elle Schulz came in 61st with a time of 23:04.52 and freshman Mya Hanke came in 73rd with a time of 24:00.72. Senior Aliyah Studier and seventh grader Sienna Murray also contributed to the team score, coming in 74th and 82nd, respectively, with times of 24:08.17 and 26:16.98.

Northfield won the team portion with  a final score of 61, and Northfield eighth grader Carly Gruber won the race with a time of 19:24.13.