Kyle, Kevin Dammen top two finishers
Post-Bulletin staff
LAKE CITY — For the second year in a row, the Austin boys cross country team finished first in the Lake City Invitational.
Led by the Dammen boys, Kyle and Kevin, the Austin Packers ran past the rest of the field on Tuesday. Kyle Dammen was the second overall individual finisher and Kevin Dammen finished in fourth-place on the day.
There were a total of nine boys teams in this meet. Austin took the top spot (38), Minnehaha Academy (53) out of the Twin Cities was the runner-up, and Plainview-Elgin-Millville (85) took third-place. Minnehaha Academy and P-E-M are ranked in the state’s top 10 for Class A.
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"The boys had a great night winning the Lake City Invite for the second year in a row," Austin coach Tony Einertson said. "This year was a little more special, because we won it against the sixth and seventh ranked teams in the state for Class A. Kyle and Kevin continue to lead the team, but it’s the gains by the rest of the guys that are making the team compete so well."
Christian Folken of Austin also cracked the top 10 as he ran to a seventh-place finish. Tim Erickson and Ben Bachmeier of Austin also finished in the Top 20 at the meet.
"Chris, Tim, and Ben all took over 30 seconds off of their time from last year," Einertson said. "Things are looking very good going into this weekend’s Milaca Mega Meet where we will compete against over 25 teams. It is going to be nice to see how the boys compete against teams that are the same size as ours."
On the girls side, Dover-Eyota/St. Charles dominated the field and ran to the first-place team finish. DESC had the top three individual finishers on the day. Minnehaha Academy was the runner-up.
The Austin girls were without top runner Haley Splinter in this meet due to a knee injury. The Packers finished eighth in the team tally.
"The girls all had season best times as they were all running almost 30 seconds per person faster than last week," Einertson said. "Kaitlyn Carrol led the girls with a 32nd place finish in taking over a minute off of last year’s time."
Austin boys and girls travel north on Saturday to compete in the Mega Meet at Milaca.
LAKE CITY INVITATIONAL
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BOYS
Team results
Austin 38, Minnehaha Academy 53, Plainview-Elgin-Millville 85, Dover-Eyota/St. Charles 129, Stewartville 134, Byron 156, Lake City 157, Hayfield 179, Lanesboro/Fillmore Central 231.
Top 5 individuals
Aaron Haley (PEM) 16:24, Kyle Dammen (Austin) 16:34, Scott Duck (DESC) 16:48, Kevin Dammen (Austin) 17:00, Sam Wagner (Minnehaha Academy) 17:06.
Austin results
2. Kyle Dammen 16:34; 4. Kevin Dammen 17:00; 7. Christian Folken 17:10; 11. Tim Erickson 17:20; 16. Ben Bachmeier 17:36; 29. Brandon Holtorf 18:06; 33. Travis Hawley 18:12.
GIRLS
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Team results
DESC 19, Minnehaha Academy 64, Byron 95, Lake City 98, Hayfield 155, PEM 155, Stewartville 164, Austin 196.
Top 5 individuals
Kelly Hurtis (DESC) 15:33, Anna Buntrock (DESC) 15:38, Jackie Hurtis (DESC) 16:04, Kassie Coli (Byron) 16:08, Jena Halstenggard (Minnehaha Academy) 16:11.
Austin results
32. Kaitlyn Carrol 18:26; 37. Lauren Thompson 18:39; 41. Katelyn Harder 18:52; 47. Martha McDermott 19:22; 51. Cami Longueville 23:16.
