Home stretch: Chaska's Matt Babcock and Kyle Economy (photos by Rob Economy)
The Chaska girls cross country team entered the 2008 season rated seventh in the Class 2A coaches’ poll.
Minnetonka is No. 6, White Bear Lake is No. 3 and Lakeville North is No. 1.
The polls proved pretty accurate, but they will likely adjust after the Irish Invitational on Friday at Rosemount High School.
Lakeville North and Minnetonka tied for first place at the meet with 74 points apiece. The Panthers prevailed, as their sixth runner was three places better than the Skippers.
Kaila Urick
Chaska took third place, led by sophomore Kaila Urick’s fourth-place finish.
Urick, who qualified for two state meets individually, and went with the Hawks team last season, completed the 2-mile course in 12 minutes,
11.1 seconds.
Hawk eighth-grader Claire Bulat took 16th place in 12:30.5, and junior Kelsey Junget was 18th in 12:31.4. Eighth-grader Jenna Urick finished 35th for the Hawks and senior Lauren Carlson was 47th overall to finish the scoring.
On the boys’ side, unrated White Bear Lake dominated the meet with seven top-20 finishers to amass just 50 points and easily outdistance Minnetonka’s 91 points.
The Hawks were No. 3 with 100 points, led by junior Matt Babcock’s 10th-place run of 10:34.5 and Kyle Economy’s 11th-place finish just four-tenths of a second later.
Chaska had another pair of close-finishers, as seniors Sam Peterson and Michael Rodriguez took 22nd and 23rd place, respectively. Tyler Voss was 36th overall, with fellow senior Kellen McMillen taking 44th for Chaska.
The Hawks next run in the Hopkins Invitational on Sept. 6 at Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista.
Boys results
Teams (Pl. Team Pts.)
1. White Bear Lake 50
2. Minnetonka 91
3. Chaska 100
4. Lakeville North 131
5. Maple Grove 137
6. Rosemount 172
7. Rochester Mayo 220
8. Mounds View 230
9. Armstrong 252
10. Champlin Park 286
11. Mahtomedi 312
12. Northfield 325
13. Rochester Century 331
14. Prior Lake 412
15. Math & Science Academy 422
16. Tartan 443
17. St. Paul Como Park 460
18. St. Paul Johnson 506
19. St. Paul Arlington 555
Top 10 (Pl. Runner, yr. School
Time)
1. Chris Massey, 12 Rosemount 10:06.0
2. Bill Struntz, 12 White Bear Lake 10:07.5
3. Kyle Richards, 12 Champlin Park 10:14.0
4. Nick Emmans, 12 Minnetonka 10:16.9
5. Adam DePaolis, 12 Armstrong 10:23.0
6. Alex Johnson, 10 Maple Grove 10:26.5
7. Tyler Olson, 10 Maple Grove 10:31.0
8. Christopher Broback, 12 Lakeville North 10:32.4
9. Matt Meuwissen, 10 White Bear Lake 10:32.7
10. Matt Babcock, 12 10:34.5
Chaska results
10. Matt Babcock, 12 10:34.5
11. Kyle Economy, 11 10:34.9
21. Sam Peterson, 12 10:41.3
22. Michael Rodriguez, 12 10:42.2
36. Tyler Voss, 12 11:01.7
44. Kellen McMillen, 12 11:10.0
60. Edward VanPelt, 12 11:20.7
63. Griffin Kilber, 12 11:21.9
74. Alec Olson, 9 11:29.6
82. Tommy Lowder, 12 11:38.6
Girls results
Teams (Pl. Team Pts.)
1. Lakeville North and Eden Prairie 74
3. Chaska 118
4. Wayzata 167
5. Eastview 180
6. Prior Lake 186
7. White Bear Lake 196
8. Stillwater Area 207
9. Rosemount 239
10. Maple Grove 248
11. Tartan 298
12. Rochester Mayo 326
13. Champlin Park 357
14. Armstrong 401
15. Northfield 409
16. Mounds View 453
17. St. Paul Como Park 465
18. Mahtomedi 484
19. Rochester Century 529
Incompletes: St. Paul Arlington, Math & Science Academy
Top 10 (Pl. Runner, yr. School Time)
1. Caitlin Hewes, 10 Stillwater Area 12:03.8
2. Anne Ferguson, 10 Eastview 12:07.7
3. Rachel Drake, 12 White Bear Lake 12:07.9
4. Kaila Urick, 10 Chaska 12:11.1
5. Michelle Volz, 12 Lakeville North 12:12.4
6. Steph Sjostrom, 12 Champlin Park 12:13.0
7. Melissa(Breanne) Valle, 12 Minnetonka 12:13.4
8. Emily Olson, 9 Stillwater Area 12:14.1
9. Emily Meese, 12 Minnetonka 12:15.5
10. Megan Bailey, 10 Minnetonka 12:17.0
Chaska results
4. Kaila Urick, 10 12:11.1
16. Claire Bulat, 8 12:30.5
18. Kelsey Junget, 11 12:31.8
35. Jenna Urick, 8 12:50.2
47. Lauren Carlson, 12 12:59.8
56. Nicole Franz, 10 13:09.4
61. Sarah Woodland, 11 13:13.0
62. Jessica Lynch, 10 13:14.0
66. Megan Feyereisen, 10 13:17.2
77. Claire Schmidt, 11 13:30.1