Jackson County Central’s girls were third and the boys fifth in the Fairmont Early Bird Invite cross country meet Friday at the Fairmont High School Athletic Complex.
Class 2A fourth-ranked Marshall was the girls champion with 20 points, Fairmont was second with 85 and the Huskies third with 92 points.
Elese Paplow led the JCC girls with a ninth-place finish in the 64-runner field with a 4000-meter time of 17:37.2.
“I was happy with the way Elese ran,” said Jackson County Central Coach Rafe York. “She got out fast, which is good and she stayed up at the front and that’s what she has to do. I know she’s been working hard all summer and came in in pretty good shape so it’s nice to see that pay off.”
Class 2A ninth-ranked Macy Hanson of Fairmont was the individual winner in 15:40.6 .
Jackson County Central was fifth in the boys team standings with 115 points, finishing one point from fourth-place Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet and three behind third-place Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey. Marshall won the team title.
Evan Paplow was first out of 99 runners with a 4K time of 13:38.3. Alvaro Gonzalez Garcia, an exchange student from Spain, also earned a medal for placing ninth in 14:38.3.
“Obviously Evan going out and winning is nice,” York commented. “I saw he was not ranked in the Top 10 (in the state ratings) for the preseason and I think he’s going to make them rethink that.
“Alvaro is a great addition and then the rest of the guys ran really well as well. We got fifth, but it was a tough field.”
Both JCC teams will go to Mountain Lake next Friday for the Paul Metcalf Invitational.
Fairmont Early Bird
Girls
Team standings
1. Marshall 20, 2. Fairmont 85, 3. Jackson County Central 92, 4. St. Peter 115, 5. Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 127, 6. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 127, 7. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 132.
JCC results
4000 meters
64 runners
Elese Paplow, 9th, 17:37.2; Rylie Cother, 17th, 18:34.1; Taylor Schultz, 23rd, 19:50.9; Lily Johnson, 35th, 21:29.2 ; Cailee Pauling, 39th, 21:59.8; Kylie Zischka, 59th, 25:49.0.
Boys
Team standings
1. Marshall 41, 2. Fairmont 71, 3. Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 112, 4. Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet 113, 5. Jackson County Central 115, 6. St. Peter 159, 7. St. James Area 185, 8. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 189, 9. Heron Lake-Okabena 240, 10. Blue Earth Area 254.
JCC results
4000 meters
99 runners
Evan Paplow, 1st, 13:38.3; Alvaro Gonzalez Garcia, 9th, 14:38.3; EJ Peterson, 29th, 15:56.9; Nolan Ambrose, 38th, 16:24.6; Brigan McCarthy, 45th, 16:50.0; Alex Mohning, 60th, 18:05.1; Kristoph Olsem, 68th, 18:32.5.
JCC cross country schedule
Fri., Aug. 26 - at Fairmont, girls 3rd, boys 5th
Fri., Sept. 2 - at Mountain Lake, 10 a.m.
Sat., Sept. 10 - at Luverne, 10 a.m.
Tues., Sept. 20 - JCC Invitational, 4:15 p.m. (see below)
Tues., Sept. 27 - at Murray County Central, 4:15 p.m.
Thurs., Oct. 6 - at Fairmont, 4:30 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 11 - at Adrian, 4 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 18 - Big South Conference, Pipestone, TBA
Thurs., Oct. 27 – Section 3A meet, Luverne, TBA
Sat., Nov. 5 – State meet, St. Olaf College
JCC Invitational teams: Adrian, Blue Earth Area, Heron Lake-Okabena, Luverne, Madelia/Truman/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther, Martin County West, Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey, Springfield/Cedar Mountain, Windom, Worthington.