Willmar girls get better of Wayzata, Marshall in MN

By Paul Schmitz for DyeStat

Three of the top four girls teams in Minnesota gathered on Saturday for the Willmar Invitational at Eagle Creek Country Club. 

On one of the hilliest courses in the state, the host Cardinals of Willmar took the team title with 25 points. Trio Jessa Hanson, Sophie Schmitz and Kayla Rudie went 2-3-4 to lead the charge. 

The meet saw No. 2 Willmar (Heartland#2), No. 3 Wayzata (Heartland#4) and No. 4 Marshall and nine other teams from Minnesota and North Dakota going head to head under sunny skies.

Wayzata's Jaycie Thomsen won the race in 19:05. 

Willmar's top three were joined by sophomore Leah Hanson at seventh and Savannah Anez in ninth. Besides Thomsen’s win, Wayzata also placed Brooke Young in the top 10 to help the Trojans to second over in-state rival Marshall, 51-81.  Willmar's girls also won the JV and middle school girls races.  

On the boys side it was all about the individuals.  The marquee matchup pitted Minnesota’s top-ranked runner, Seth Eliason of Hopkins, against Wayzata standout Khalid Hussein. The duo rank shoulder to shoulder for most of the race. Hussein tried to create a gap with just over 1,000 meters to go and run away from Eliason’s great kick, but he was unable to do it. Eliason tracked him down and kicked past Hussein as they ascended the final hill before the chute. The final times: Eliason 15:51.10, Hussein 15:51.48.  

Wayzata’s Gemechu Meskele is also one of the top 10 runners in the state but the heat and hills got the best of him.  He went out strong in the first mile but struggled to finish the race in obvious distress.  His teammates more than made up for his off day and Wayzata put six runners in the top 10 to finish with 28 team points. Wayzata's boys dominated the rest of the day as well, scoring 16 points in the JV race and winning Minnesota’s unofficial “Middle School State Championship” over the deep teams of Willmar and Hopkins, 32-42-78.  

The surprise team of the day was the Bismark Century boys from North Dakota who made a six-hour trip to test themselves against the teams from Minnesota.  Century was able to break up the Wayzata pack with two runners. Junior Evan Sayler and freshman Austin Wald finished third and eighth in the race, leading Century to a second place finish over Hopkins MN, Fargo North ND, Bemidji MN and others.