Tiger Boys Cross Country wins home invite at Bancroft Bay Park
(Pictured The Albert Lea boys varsity team took first place at their home meet Wednesday.
Pictured left – right: Luke Wangsness, Andrew Tscholl (behind), Pacey Brekke, Ty Stout and Isaiah MaGaffey)
(Story by Jim Haney)
Team place boys 1/4
Team place girls Inc
Star runner boys-Gavin Hanke
Star runner girls Jai Maligaya
Comments-After a 1 day delay due to heat, the Albert Lea Cross Country team participated in its home meet for September.  The meet was a great confidence booster for the rest of the season.  It was the last time we will run at Bancroft Bay Park competitively until the section meet on October 27.  The runners had to be encouraged by how well they ran today.  The runners saw that all the hard work and effort they have put in practice is paying off.  It was also a confidence booster by the way we were able to compete with 3 section teams.  As the season moves on we will continue to improve and work toward the team goal of winning the section.
Boys race-The coaching staff was very proud of the effort the team had today.  The boys ran with a determined purpose of competing at a high level.  The top 5 runners scored a team score of 23 points which is very strong and the boys should be proud of how they were able to run today.  Leading the way was Gavin Hanke in 1st place with a time of 16:47.   Which was a 30 second improvement from the 1st Albert Lea race about 3 weeks ago.  He is a special runner and it is a true joy to watch him be so successful.  Second on the team and coming in 3rd place in the race was Ty Stout who ran 17:56.  3rd for the team was Isaiah MCGaffey coming in 5th place with a time of 18:19.  Fourth for the tiger and coming in 6th place was Pacey Brekke with a time of 18:24 and rounding out the top 5 for the tigers was Luke Wangsness in 8th place with a time of 18:45.  A very strong effort by the boys, they should  be happy with the time they have dropped from the 1st Albert Lea meet, in most cases the boys dropped 30 seconds from 3 weeks ago.
Girls race-A great race by the 3 girls who ran varsity.  I was impressed by the way the 3 girls were able to pack up and have a great race.  The coaching staff believe  this was the strongest race of the season for the girls and they will continue to improve and drop times.  Leading the way for the girls was Jai Maligaya in 4th place with a  time of 22:07, this was a minute drop in time from late August.  coming in 2nd for the girls was Elle Schulz in 6th place with a time of 22:23 and 3rd for the girls was Mya Hanke 7th place with a time of 23:26.  All the girls are doing so well and continue to improve.  The coaching staff is proud of them and their effort during the race and at practice.
The next race will be Sept 27 at Mankato