(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Gehlen's Mary Henrich paces herself to a 29th place finish at Monday's conference meet. [Click to enlarge]

Gehlen's Jordan Freking raced to a fourth place finish Monday afternoon as the senior led the Jays to a fourth place team finish at the War Eagle Conference meet in Marcus.

With a time of 17:51, Freking held the fourth place position through the entire race, according to Gehlen coach Teresa Taylor. The senior ran 14 seconds faster and finished two spots better than at last fall's WEC race. Freking's fourth place finish was also good to earn the senior a spot on the all-conference team.

Joining Freking in the top 15 was Josh Hodgson. The sophomore clocked in a time of 18:48, which was good for 13th place overall. "Josh Hodgson had another outstanding performance with a 13th place finish - earning him a medal - and a time that shattered last year's by two and a half minutes," Taylor said.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) Hinton's Jordan Townes completed the course at Marcus in 21:01 to finish 47th Monday afternoon in the War Eagle Conference meet. [Click to enlarge]

The third Jay to cross the finish line was Matt Mayer. The freshman finished 28th overall with a time of 20:36. "Matt continues to put out excellent results for a freshman, first year cross country runner," Taylor said.

A spot behind Mayer was Robert Ciaffa, who clocked in a time of 20:55. Fort Massay finished 31st, just two spots behind Ciaffa, as the junior ran the race in 21:09.

"Still struggling with a bad cold, Robert [Ciaffa] showed his hard work coming in just six seconds after Matt [Mayer]," Taylor said.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) RSM's Kevin Russell was the fourth finisher for the Hawks as he clocked in a time of 24:49 during the WEC meet in Marcus Monday. [Click to enlarge]

David Tillman rounded out the finishers for Gehlen, crossing the finish line in 23:05 for 38th place.

With 105 team points, the Jays placed fourth out of the five teams competing at the WEC meet Monday.

In the girls' race, Rachel Koopman paced the Lady Jays as she ran the course in 18:26 to finish 19th overall.

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) RSM's Stacie Ahlers finished 30th at Monday's War Eagle Conference meet in Marcus. The junior finished the race in 19:45. [Click to enlarge]

"Rachel Koopman still pulled out a decent time and place despite being sick to her stomach all day," Taylor said. "She still beat her time [from] last year at conference."

Right behind Koopman was Kaitlin Roberts, who crossed the finish line 20th in 18:44.

"Kaitlin Roberts has also shown what freshmen can bring to the team through her consistent times and hard work," Taylor said.

The third finisher for Gehlen's girls was Mary Henrich, who clocked in a time of 19:38 for 29th place overall.

"Steadily our third place runner for the girls, Mary showed another strong performance, about one and a half minutes faster than last year's time," Taylor said.

The next pack of Gehlen runners to finish included Ellin Lee, Lindsay Berkenpas and Paige Ellensohn. Lee led the way as she finished 41st with a time of 21:32. Finishing 42nd overall was Berkenpas, who clocked in a time of 21:48. Ellensohn was 45th in the race as she finished the course in 23:20.

The Lady Jays placed sixth in the seven-team field with 151 points in the conference meet.

"Our depleted team pulled out pretty well considering the injuries and illnesses we're fighting," Taylor said. "David [Tillman] and Paige [Ellensohn] really felt their injuries during the race and, although they finished, ended up disappointed that they didn't feel better and weren't at the top of their performance. Fort [Massay] did well, however, with a time that was only eight seconds slower than his best [performance] this season."

Also competing at Monday's WEC meet was Hinton.

The Blackhawks featured a girls' squad that placed fifth overall in the team competition. Unity Christian - ranked fifth as a team in Class 2A - won the meet with 24 points. West Sioux, South O'Brien and Spalding Catholic filled spots two through four while the Blackhawks were fifth and the Lady Jays sixth.

Leading the Hinton girls was Haley Hall. The freshman just broke the 19-minute mark as she finished 21st in 18:59.

A few spots behind her was Audrey Jenkins, who clocked in 26th with a time of 19:24.

Brandi Schindel finished 31st in the race as she ran the course in 19:52. Judith Mauer just missed breaking the 20-minute mark as the freshman crossed the finish line in 20:06, which was good for 34th place overall.

Allie Beeck was just two spots behind Mauer as she finished 36th in 20:48. Jordan Townes ran the course in 21:01 to finish 47th overall. Behind her was Allison Howe, who finished in 21:05 to place 48th.

On the junior varsity level, Crystal Robinson ran the course in 25:32 but her place was not available.

"I thought we had some opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them," Hinton coach Mark Wilson said. "We've got to do some work here before districts to move up a couple spots."

The Blackhawks feature only one runner in the boys' race in Daniel Grigsby. The junior finished the conference race in 22:48 to place 36th overall.

"Daniel has been running in the low 21's, so we thought maybe at Marcus - which is kind of flat - that he could drop into the 20's, but it went the opposite way," Wilson said.

A third Plymouth County team ran in Marcus on Monday as the Remsen St. Mary's Hawks featured several runners.

Stacie Ahlers was the only runner for RSM in the girls' race. The junior finished 30th as she ran the course in 19:45.

The boys lacked a complete team as they were missing Nick Weiler, who was playing football for the Hawks Monday evening.

Leading St. Mary's was senior Justin Fejfar, who finished in 21:44.

Cameron Schroeder was the next runner to finish for RSM. The senior clocked in a time of 22:57 for the Hawks.

Simon Pick ran the course in 24:21 and Kevin Russell rounded things out for RSM with a time of 24:49.

Individual placings were not available for the RSM runners at press time.

"They ran pretty good races tonight," RSM coach Craig Hoffman said of his runners. "Everybody was pretty happy. It was a bit of a chilly meet - the first cold one we've had - but I think everyone was fairly pleased."

Hoffman was happy to see how his runners stood up against the competition in the conference. "There's pretty stiff competition in the War Eagle," he said. "It's a tough meet, that's for sure."

"We'll get the chance to see a few of these schools again," he continued. "We've basically got a week and a half before districts and we know where we're at and what we need to do, so tonight was a good measuring stick for us because a lot of the schools we ran against at Marcus we will see at districts."

On Monday, both Hinton and St. Mary's will meet up as they run at the South O'Brien Invite. Gehlen is back in action Friday night at the Unity Christian Invite in Orange City.