International Falls’ girls cross country team placed second with three runners finishing individually in the top 15 at Tuesday’s Iron Range Conference meet hosted by Mesabi East.
Grand Rapids won the conference championship with 29 points, followed by the Falls (65), Ely (96), Hibbing (113), Mesabi East (119), Eveleth-Gilbert (138) and Virginia (142). Runners from Greenway and Chisholm also competed, though fewer than five were in the race to be able to count in the team standings.
The top two individual finishes came from Grand Rapids runners as sophomore Erin Baker placed first on the 4,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 34.1 seconds, followed by eighth-grader JayLynn Lauer in 15:44.9.
Falls’ best individual finish came from sophomore Sydney Raboin, who came in about 41 seconds behind Baker to place fourth in 16:15.4.
The other four Bronco girls runners who counted in the point standings included: seventh-grader Lexi Erickson, 12th in 16:56.4; junior Amber Harms, 13th in 16:57.5; sophomore Amy Auran, 18th in 17:43.9; and junior Rachel Foss, 20th in 17:57.7.
In the boys competition, Falls placed sixth.
Mesabi East won the boys championship with the low score of 35, followed by Grand Rapids (41), Eveleth-Gilbert (75), Virginia (94), Hibbing (125), the Falls (129) and Ely (159). Greenway and Chisholm didn’t have enough runners to place in the team standings.
Four of the top six runners were from Mesabi East as the Giants’ Drew Johnson finished the 5,000-meter course first in 17:18.3.
The Broncos’ best individual finish came from senior Charlie Gordon, who placed 23rd in 19:05.2.
The other four Falls runners whose finishes counted in the team total included: junior Marco Griffith, 24th in 19:14.3; junior Cade MacKay, 26th in 19:16.4; junior Aaron Geiss, 27th in 19:19.3; and sophomore Wyatt Ulrich, 35th in 19:53.1.
The next meet for the Falls will be the Section 7A meet Oct. 27 in Cloquet.
