The Willmar boys were coming off a 2nd place finish at conference, but had two runners who hadn't raced in 2 weeks. And as same as conference, the team placed second with 122 points behind 1st place Chaska's 58 points. In third place was Buffalo with 124.
From the 800 meter mark and on, the race was between two runners, MN#2 Mahad Hassan (Willmar) and MN#3 Zach Mellon (Buffalo). These two would switch leads about 8-10 times over the last 2.5 miles and the race came down to the final 100 meters as Mellon overcame Hassan's last second charge to win in 16:02 to 16:03. Coming in third was Sadam Abdi of Willmar who outkicked sophomore Trent Lusignan of Shakopee by .8 seconds in 16:29 to 16:30.
Rounding out Willmar's top 7 were Mowlid Mohamed in 34th, Abdullahi Mohamed in 35th, Matt Weitzel in 48th, Alex Johannes in 54th and Danny Voss in 57th.
The team competes at the state meet on Saturday, November 1st at St.Olaf.
The Willmar girls came out and took 7th place. They were led by Jayne Cole in 16th place. Erin Sheehan was 29th with teammate Marin Hanson right behind in 30th. Emily Ellingson and Paige Kester rounded out the top 5 in 35th and 38th place. Tara Rudie and Ashley Bach rounded out Willmar's top7.
The individual race came down to two runners in Julia Harrison (Mound-Westonka) and Maria Hauger (Shakopee). Harrison pulled away with about 1000m left to take the win in 14:28.
Jayne Cole was in 10th place for the first 2 miles before falling back to 16th in the last 800m.
Results:
1.) Chaska 75
2.) Shakopee 88
3.) New Prague 89
4.) Mankato East 112
5.) Mound Westonka 132
6.) Buffalo 140
7.)* Willmar 148
8.) Mankato West 148
Willmar Team:
16.) Jayne Cole 15:46
29.) Erin Sheehan 16:08
30.) Marin Hanson 16:08
35.) Emily Ellingson 16:11
38.) Paige Kester 16:17
49.) Tara Rudie 16:36
56.) Ashley Bach 17:01
Top10 Individuals:
1.) Julia Harrison 14:28 (Mound Westonka)
2.) Maria Hauger 14:46 (Shakopee)
3.) Laura Hughes 15:13 (Mankato West)
4.) Molly Wick 15:16 (New Prague)
5.) Jacque Thaemert 15:21 (Buffalo)
6.) Kaila Urick 15:23 (Chaska)
7.) Shannon Heilman 15:26 (Mound Westonka)
8.) Amanda Blain 15:27 (Mankato East)
9.) Anna Neu 15:31 (Shakopee)
10.) Megan Ackerman 15:32 (Buffalo)
1.) Chaska 58
2.) Willmar 122
3.) Buffalo 124
4.) Mankato West 138
5.) Orono 159
Willmar Team:
2.) Hassan
3.) Abdi
34.) Mowlid Mohamed 17:33
35.) Abdullahi Mohamed 17:35
48.) Matt Weitzel 17:54
54.) Alex Johannes 18:00
57.) Danny Voss 18:05
Top 10 Individuals:
1.) Zach Mellon 16:02 (Buffalo )
2.) Mahad Hassan 16:03
3.) Sadam Abdi 16:29
4.) Trent Lusignan 16:30 (Shakopee)
5.) Matt Babcock 16:39 (Chaska)
6.) Preston Tomlinson 16:41 (New Prague)
7.) Troy Koivisto 16:43 (Dassel-Cokato)
8.) Stephen Thibodeaux 16:48 (Buffalo)
9.) Nick Lindstrom 16:48 (Shakopee)
10.) Michael Rodrgiuez 16:48 (Chaska)