Junior Jen Hess defended her Class A title at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday. The meet, which was actually held in Milaca this year, is the largest prep cross country meet in the country.There are three classes of competition, and 28 teams posted scores in Class A. More than 200 female runners ran in the varsity race for Class A.
Trisha Wendlandt has been the fourth runner for the girls' varsity this fall. At Princeton she took 167th out of more than 200 runners.
Hess won the race for the second straight year, winning by 12 seconds in 14:54. Coach Darrel Carstens felt Hess had a great run in front of the pack, especially in lieu of the windy conditions.
While many of the state's top teams were at the meet, some of the top-ranked individuals in Class A were not. Carstens wishes that Hess, who is ranked first in the state in her class after placing third at state last year, would have a chance to face her top competitors before state this year. "It'd be nice if someone would be right with her to challenge her," he said.
As a team, the Bulldogs finished 23rd. The Bulldogs ran without regular varsity runners Mesa Frenchick and Kim Hess, leaving the team with only five runners.
Behind Jen Hess, Brooke Schmitz placed 33rd in 16:14. Trisha Wendlandt was 167 in 18:30, and Bridget Johnson and Mellody Veldkamp finished two spots apart in 225th and 227th. It was the first varsity race for Johnson, a ninth grader.
The girls will run in their only home meet of the season on Thursday at Koronis Hills Golf Course in Paynesville. Paynesville will only have girls run in the varsity race, which is scheduled to start at 5:40 p.m.
Team standings (Top 5)
1. Visitation - 106
2. Minnehaha Academy - 109
3. New London-Spicer - 138
4. Staples-Motley - 189
5. Perham - 268
23. Paynesville - 653
Individual results
1. Jenny Hess - 14:54
33. Brooke Schmitz - 16:14
167. Trisha Wendlandt -18:30
225. Bridget Johnson - 19:52
227. Mellody Veldkamp - 20:06