By John RittenhouseAll three cross country programs from the Star Herald coverage area gathered in Slayton for the Murray County Central Invitational Tuesday.Luverne, Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton all fielded complete teams for the boys’ varsity race. Luverne led the way by placing second, Adrian came in third and H-BC-E-E finished fourth.Luverne placed second and Adrian fourth in the girls’ varsity standings.Lexi Heitkamp captured an individual title while leading the Luverne girls to a second-place finish as a team Tuesday.Heitkamp, who has been ranked as the state’s No. 11 Class A runner, covered the course in 16:10.Amanda Saum finished fifth in 17:09, Amanda Kannas 13th in 18:20, Kristy Heikes 17th in 18:36 and Victoria Arends 22nd in 19:03 to cap the team scoring for LHS.Kayla Raddle placed 24th in 19:14 without impacting the scoring.Tom Ward set the pace for the Luverne boys by placing fourth in 18:32.Ruston Aaker placed 14th in 19:10, Nick Otten 18th in 19:20, Jesson Vogt 23rd in 19:38 and Thomas Pinkel 34th in 20:08) to round out the scoring for the Cardinals.Michael Nelson and Brent DeGroot finished 45th and 49th in 21:57 and 22:20 without impacting influencing the team effort.Consistent efforts helped the Adrian boys place third as a team at the meet.Brandon Bullerman (15th in 19:10), Paul Honermann (17th in 19:27), Lee Stover (19th in 19:30), Pete Jensen (24th in 19:41) and Chad Janssen (25th in 19:48) ran well as a pack to make contributions to the team performance.Ethan Wieneke and Aaron Mormann finished 37th and 43rd with respective 19:48 and 20:24 without influencing the scoring for AHS.Morgan Lynn ran a strong race to finish second individually to lead the Adrian girls to their fourth-place finish as a team.Kelly Banck (14th in 18:22), Krissi Thier (21st in 18:54), Megan Henning (27th in 20:43) and Sarah Kruger (30th in 21:17) round out the scoring for AHS.H-BC-E-E didn’t have a runner entered in the girls’ varsity race, but Patriot Tyler Bush turned in a solid showing while winning the boys’ event with a time of 17:49.Kale Wiertzema placed 20th in 19:26, Todd Alberty 21st in 19:30, Lee Jackson 26th in 19:48 and Adam Finke 53rd in 23:11 to round out H-BC-E-E’s team performance.Here is a look at the final varsity team standings and the rest of the individual performances turned in by area runners in Slayton.Boys’ standings: Southwest Christian 30, Luverne 76, Adrian 81, H-BC-E-E 102, Jackson County Central 103, Worthington 117, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 169.Girls’ standings: Martin County West 38, Luverne 58, JCC 61, Adrian 94, MCC 106, Worthington 136.Boys’ junior varsityAdrian: Kyle Knips, eighth, 16:43; David Brake, 10th, 16:58; Kelly Seeman, 15th, 17:27; Dustin Lonneman, 22nd, 18:08; Jarod Bolrjes, 24th, 18:14; Brad Brake, 26th, 18:28; Eldon Vaselaar, 30th, 19:12; Michal Berrie, 36th, 20:07; Trent Lutmer, 43rd, 21:34.Luverne: Travis Halfmann, first, 15:42; Dusty Antoine, fourth, 16:14; Craig Oeding, 13th, 17:20; Eric Kraetsch, 20th, 17:54; Jerome Willers, 28th, 19:01; David Nelson, 29th, 19:05.H-BC-E-E: Dustin Verhey, fifth, 16:22; Derek Haak, seventh, 16:28; John Sandbulte, ninth, 16:50; Devin DeBoer, 16th, 17:29; Tom Janssen, 25th, 18:23; Jared Drenth, 27th, 18:53.Girls’ junior varsityH-BC-E-E: Mya Mann, first, 18:30; Jill Weitgenant, second, 18:40; Rayna Sandoval, fourth, 19:16; Amanda Connors, ninth, 20:07.Girls’ junior highAdrian: Anna Sauer, 18th, 10:19.Boys’ junior highAdrian: Ross Wieneke, fourth, 6:54; Kyle Henning, 10th, 7:15; Zach Runia, 17th, 7:31; Collin Lynn, 20th, 7:38; Jordan Pater, 23rd, 7:56; Jared Altman, 30th, 8:27.H-BC-E-E: Cody Penning, 14th, 7:33; Grant Hoogendoorn, 15th, 7:34; Tyler Larson, 7:38; Luke Tiesler, 18th, 7:40; Derek Drenth, 25th, 8:10; Tom Nolte, 28th, 8:25; B.J. Kruse, 31st, 8:28.
