The Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball cross country team opened the season at Howard Lake Aug. 28. The top runner for Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball, Ellen Becker, finished fifth with a time of 17:53. The varsity runners were Ellen Becker, Kelsey Vigoren, April Ruprecht, Lisa Ruprecht and Bridget Billo. Running JV was Madeline Vandermey, Rachael Berg and Tara Serbus. The junior high team took first place as a team. The junior high girls ran 1500 meters with Tanya Maciejewski finishing in first place with a time of 6:12. Molly Hesse finished second with a time of 6:14 and Renee Berg fourth with a time of 6:44. Raelynn Callender, Jennifer Notch, Stephanie Wirz, Alex Theis, Kelsey Libbesmeier, Kaylyn Mancini and Natalie Whitcomb followed close behind to finish out a strong first place for the junior girls. Irish Invite/Aug. 30 The team competed at the Maple Lake Irish Invite. The varsity finished in fourth place with 88 points. Maple Lake finished first with 32 points, taking first, second and third place in the varsity girls race. Rockford was second with 75 points, Delano third with 83 points, Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball fourth with 88 points, D.C. fifth with 92 pointes, HL-W-W, B-B-E and Royalton had incomplete teams in the girl’s varsity race. Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball girl’s varsity finishers were Justine Hilsgen, fifth with a time of 18:01; Ellen Becker eighth, 19:21; Kelsey Vigoren, 18th, 19:57; Ginelle Zimmerman, 27th, 21:15; Rachael Berg, 30th, 21:35; and Bridget Billo, 38th, 26:19. The junior varsity girls had an incomplete team. The JV girls were Madeline Vandermey finishing third with a time of 20:50, Beth Libbesmeier sixth with a time of 20:54 and Tara Serbus 23rd with a time of 23:23. The junior high girls ran 2000 meters and took first place with a total of 24 points. The junior high girls were led by Tanya Maciejewski, finishing first in a time of 10:10. Molly Hesse was third with a time of 10:24; Renee Berg, fifth, 10:50; Jennifer Notch, sixth, 11:30; Alex Theis, ninth, 11:38; Stephanie Wirz, 13th, 11:50; Raelynn Callender, 18th, 12:43; Kelsey Libbesmeier, 19th, 12:44; Kaylyn Mancini, 20th, 13:40; and Natalie Whitcomb, 21st, 16:36. The junior high girls placed first for the second straight meet – great job. Rockford Invite The first day of school (Sept. 4), the Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball cross country team competed at the Rockford Invite. The varsity girls finished eighth. The varsity girls results were: Watertown-Mayer, first, 59 points; Annandale, second, 71 points; Maple Lake, third, 72 points; Concordia Academy/Roseville, fourth, 79 points; Montgomery Lonsdale, fifth, 135 points; Rockford, sixth, 148 points; Dassel-Cokato, seventh, 170 points; Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball, eighth, 176 points; and Delano, ninth, 177 points. Varsity girls were April Ruprecht, Ellen Becker, Justine Hilsgen, Ginelle Zimmerman, Maddie Vandermey, Beth Libbesmeier and Kelsey Vigoren. JV runners were Bridget Billo, Lisa Ruprecht, Tara Serbus and Rachael Berg. Junior high girls were Molly Hesse, Tanya Maciejewski, Renee Berg, Jennifer Notch, Raelyn Callender, Alex Theis, Stephanie Wirz, Natalie Whitcomb, Kelsey Libbesmeier and Kaylyn Mancini. Student manager and stats keeper for the team is Tina Markwardt. B-B-E Invite Sept. 6 the Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball cross country team traveled to Brooten for the B-B-E Jaguar CC Invitational. The girls varsity finished seventh among 12 complete teams. Varsity girls team results were: Paynesville, first, 65 points; Montevideom, second, 85 points; Albany, third, 89 points; New London-Spicer, fourth, 123 points; Minnewaska, fifth, 131 points; Redwood Valley, sixth, 141 points; Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball, seventh, 227 points; Benson, eighth, 234 points; Litchfield, ninth, 279 points; Morris, 10th, 291 points; RCW, 11th, 338 points; and Bold, 12th, 351 points. The first-place runner was Linda Keller from Paynesville with a time of 14:37. The Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball varsity girl runners were Justine Hilsgen, 14th, 16:58; Ellen Becker, 26th, 17:30; Kelsey Vigoren, 57th, 19:01; April Ruprecht, 62nd, 19:22; Ginnelle Zimmerman, 68th, 19:31; Maddie Vandermey, 72nd, 20:09; and Beth Libbesmeier, 73rd, 20:14. Eden Valley-Watkins-Kimball JV girls were Rachael Berg, 27th, 21:07; Tara Serbus, 32nd, 21:48; and Bridget Billo, 42nd, 24:01. The junior high girls took another first place with 42 points. The junior high runners were Tanya Maciejewski, third, 11:47; Molly Hesse, fifth, 11:54; Renee Berg, sixth, 12:00; Jennifer Notch, 13th, 13:33; Stephanie Wirz, 17th, 13:35; Alex Theis, 30th, 14:51; Kelsey Libbesmeier, 33rd, 15:10; Kaylyn Mancini, 41st, 16:04; and Natalie Whitcomb, 45th, 17:27. The team score is the total of the first five runners of a given team. The perfect score is 15 (1,2,3,4,5). Annandale varsity boy’s team scored a 15 at the Rockford Invitational. The cross country team had a meet in Annandale Sept. 9 and in Pierz Sept. 17. The home meet will be held at the Kimall Golf Course Sept. 20 at 4:30 p.m. Terry Nelson, asst. coach
