Luverne’s Lexi Heitkamp (left) matches stride with Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Kayla Jelen during the Rock County Invitational cross country meet in Adrian Thursday. Heitkamp nipped Jelen by one second to win the individual championship.By John RittenhouseThe Luverne cross country teams played the role of hosts during the annual Rock County Invitational staged at the Adrian Area Country Club Thursday.Sioux Falls Lincoln stole the show by winning both the girls’ and boys’ varsity team championships, topping second-place Luverne in each division.Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton also were on hand for the meet.Adrian finished third in the boys’ standings and fourth on the girls’ side. H-BC-E-E was incomplete in the girls’ race, but the Patriot boys finished fourth as a team.Luverne’s Lexi Heitkamp nipped Lincoln’s Kalya Jelen by one second to win the girls’ varsity race. Heitkamp posted a 15:23, while Jelen recorded a 15:24.Kayla Raddle placed seventh in 17:03, Kelsey Dooyema 15th in 17:37, Victoria Arends 17th in 17:49 and Kristy Heikes 18th in 17:53 to round out the scoring for LHS.Morgan Lynn placed a solid fourth with a time of 16:02 to pace the Adrian girls at the meet.Krissi Thier finished 21st in 17:58, Kelly Banck 22nd in 17:58, Megan Henning 35th in 19:06 and Sarah Kruger 52nd in 20:12 to cap the scoring for AHS.H-BC-E-E’s Mya Mann and Rayna Sandoval placed 20th and 33rd with respective 17:57 and 18:53 times for the incomplete Patriots.Tom Ward and Ruston Aaker cracked the Top-12 to lead the Luverne boys to a second-place finish as a team.Ward placed fifth and Aaker 11th with respective 17:37 and 18:09 times.Nick Otten (14th in 18:32), Jesson Vogt (16th in 18:38) and Tom Pinkel (22nd in 18:54) made contributions to Luverne’s team effort.Travis Halfmann (37th in 19:40), Michael Nelson (50th in 20:43), Craig Oeding (55th in 20:58), David Nelson (62nd in 21:22), Brent DeGroot (67th in 21:31), Grant Oldre (75th in 22:16), Eric Kraetsch (87th in 23:36) and Jerome Willers (89th in 23:41) ran for the Cards without influencing the scoring.Brandon Bullerman and Chad Janssen led the Adrian boys to a third-place finish by placing 18th and 19th with respective 18:42 and 18:50 times.Pete Jensen finished 24th in 18:56, Lee Stover 25th in 19:01 and Paul Honermann 29th in 19:07 to round out Adrian’s team effort.Ethan Wieneke (38th in 19:47), Aaron Mormann (44th in 20:28), David Brake (49th in 20:36), Kyle Knips (54th in 20:57), Kelly Seeman (56th in 21:02), Dustin Lonneman (74th in 22:15), Brad Brake (82nd in 22:32), Eldon Vaselaar (83rd in 22:34), Michal Berrie (88th in 23:37) and Trent Lutmer (100th, no time available) ran for the Dragons without contributing to the team effort.Tyler Bush set the pace for the H-BC-E-E boys by placing second individually with a time of 17:09.Todd Alberty placed 21st in 18:52, Kale Wiertzema 27th in 19:04, Derek Haak 39th in 19:48 and Dustin Verhey 41st in 20:09 to pad H-BC-E-E’s team tally.John Sandbulte (52nd in 20:49), Devin DeBoer (63rd in 21:29), Adam Finke (69th in 21:44), Tom Janssen (72nd in 22:01), Jared Drenth (81st in 22:29), Stephen Harsma (98th in 25:39) and Paul Cepeda (101st, no time available) also ran for the Patriots.Here is a look at the varsity team standings and junior high individual results from the Rock County Invitational.Boys’ standings: SFL 25, Luverne 58, Adrian 96, H-BC-E-E 103, Flandreau Indian School 136, Worthington 162, Murray County Central 215, Pipestone 274.Girls’ standings: SFL 40, Luverne 84, Tracy-Milroy 89, Adrian 105, MCC 114, Worthington 147.Junior high girlsAdrian: Anna Sauer, fifth, 9:09.Junior high boysAdrian: Ross Wieneke, second, 6:09; Jarod Boltjes, third, 6:13; Kyle Henning, seventh, 6:27; Collin Lynn, 11th, 6:31; Zach Runia, 17th, 6:58; Jared Altman, 24th, 7:34.H-BC-E-E: Cody Penning, 12th, 6:40; Grant Hoogendoorn, 13th, 6:42; Luke Tiesler, 21st, 7:25; Derek Drenth, 26th, 7:30; B.J. Kruse, 27th, 7:36.
