ERHARD — Owen Robertson skied a first-place 33:10 Friday, Dec. 27, at Spidahl Ski Gaard, to lead the Brainerd Warriors boys to their second-straight first-place finish during a 10-kilometer continuous pursuit.
Brainerd’s Triston Kubista placed third with a 33:31 followed by Taite Knapp in fourth and Gabe Hallgren in fifth. Wyatt Brown placed ninth to finish off Brainerd’s 391 team points.
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“It was tough conditions for everyone with the snow melt,” Warrior head coach Tessa Capelle said. “We got all of our races in, however, as Fergus did a great job putting on the race in the conditions they had.
“Owen had a fantastic race. He went out really strong and he just looked powerful skiing up the hills. The boys all came in as a pile, but with a wave start it was hard to know where things stacked up, but Owen had a fantastic race.”
The Warriors’ Alex Lelwica and Silas Osborne also captured the sprint relay victory with Lee Knapp and Patrick Ryan adding a fifth-place finish.
Little Falls placed seventh overall with Mason Ellingson finishing 15th in the pursuit and the team of Parker Grant and Cameron Schwinn finishing fourth in the relay.
Wadena-Deer Creek skied two relays. Grant Nelson and Jack Bucholz finished 10th and Tayton Lehmann-Owen Anderson finished 14th.
On the girls’ side, Brainerd finished fourth led by Sophia Lundy’s 12th-place 42:09. Audrey Hastings placed 14th in her first action of the season. Amelia Rademacher finished 15th, Madi Miller 16th and Maev Storbakken 18th for Brainerd’s 347.
Brainerd’s relay team of Ava Capelle-Taylor Allen finished second behind Alexandria with a 19:08.2.
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“Sophia is taking on that leadership role,” Capelle said. “She’s a real good classic skier and her skate times have just continued to improve. She pushes through and I can always count on her to catch that next skier and finish strong.”
Ainsley Kreha led Little Falls to fifth place with her 10th-place 41:02. Emma Catlin finished 24th followed by Elyse Yorek in 25th and Molly Petrwotiz in 26th.
The Flyers’ Cecila Russtad-Emma Larson finished sixth in the relay.
Boys results
Team scores: 1-Brainerd 391, 2-Moorhead 369, 3-Fergus Falls 349, 4-Alexandria 334, 5-Bemidji 320, 6-St. Cloud 229, 7-Little Falls 226, 8-Detroit Lakes 139, 9-Willmar 78
Individual winner: Owen Robertson (Brd) 33:10
Brainerd results: 3-Triston Kubista 33:31, 4-Taite Knapp 33.36, 5-Gabe Hallgren 33:43, 9-Wyatt Brown 34:21, 13-Joe Neumann 35:12
Little Falls results: 15-Mason Ellingson 36:01, 26-Nicholas Sprang 38:01, 36-Marshall Zapzalka 49:52
Sprint relay: 1-Brainerd (Alex Lelwica-Silas Osborne) 15:27.5, 4-Little Falls (Parker Grant-Cameron Schwinn) 15:52.0, 5-Brainerd (Lee Knapp-Patrick Ryan) 16:05.2, 10-Wadena-Deeer Creek (Grant Nelson-Jack Bucholz) 17:55.2, 14-Wadena-Deer Creek (Tayton Lehmann-Owen Anderson) 20:09.6
Girls results
Team scores: 1-Alexandria 369, 2-Moorhead 362, 3-Fergus Falls 357, 4-Brainerd 347, 5-Little Falls 319, 6-St. Cloud 251, 7-Bemidji 246, 8-Detroit Lakes 210, 9-Willmar 130
Individual winner: Kasey Soderholm (Alexandria) 37:08
Brainerd results: 12-Sophia Lundy 42:09, 14-Audrey Hastings 42:53, 15-Amelia Rademacher 42:59, 16-Madi Miller 43:04, 18-Maev Storbakken 43:16, 36-Elizabeth Rademacher 49:53
Little Falls results: 10-Ainsley Kresha 41:02, 24-Emma Catlin 45:10, 25-Elyse Yorek 45:13, 26-Molly Petrowitz 45:45, 30-Brooke Litke 48:01, 35-Olivia Litke 49:15
Sprint relay: 1-Alexandria 18:26.1, 2-Brainerd (Ava Capelle-Taylor Allen) 19:08.2, 6-Little Falls (Cecila Russtad-Emma Larson) 20:01.3
Next: Brainerd, Little Falls, Wadena-Deer Creek in Presection 8 meet at Maplelag-Little Sugarbush Lake, Detroit Lakes, Tuesday, Jan. 7.
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