Austin boys cross country team has best finish in 10 years at Mayo

By Herald staff (Contact) | Austin Daily Herald

Originally published 10:54 p.m., September 11, 2008
Updated 10:54 p.m., September 11, 2008

The Austin boys cross country team had its best finish in 10 years and the girls finished 16th out of 18 teams at the Mayo Invite in Rochester Thursday.

The Packer boys took sixth out of 22 teams and finished ahead of four Big Nine teams at the meet. Owatonna took first in the boys race.

“It was quite an accomplishment,” Austin head coach Tony Einertson said. “We got to see some of the better teams in the Big Nine and see how we stack up with them. We weren’t quite ready for the course’s hills, but we battled well through it.”

Kyle Dammen came in at 14th place for Austin with a time of 17:37.62. Kevin Dammen took 27th, with a time of 17:55.83.

“Kyle ran with a nice relaxed pace for the first mile. Kevin was right with him, but he had a bit of a side ache,” Einertson said.

For the girls, Haley Splinter finished 23rd, with a time of 16:54.41.

“Haley continues to be the shining star for the girls team,” Einertson said. “Today she gutted one out as she hurt her knee in the last 200 meters. She finished the race, but fell afterwards. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious.”

Stillwater won the girls meet as a team.

AUSTIN RESULTS

Boys: Kyle Dammen (14th, 17:37.62); Kevin Dammen (27th, 17:55.83); Christian Folken (34th, 18:09.92); Tim Erickson (52nd, 18:42.51); Ben Bachmeier (57th, 18:51.21); Brandon Holtorf (64th, 19:00.76); Travis Hawley (72nd, 19:13.30)

Girls: Haley Splinter (23rd, 16:54.41); Kaitlynn Carroll (98th, 19:25.51); Lauren Thompson (99th, 19:29.06); Katelyn Harder (112th, 20:00.55)

HAYFIELD RESULTS

Boys: Nathan Conroy (51st, 18:39.70)

Girls: Courtney Severson (79th, 18:47.11); Alexis Anderson (89th, 19:13.35); Hannah Conroy (115th, 20:13.47); Kelsey Johnson (116th, 20:16.46); Megan Ellis (118th, 20:18.19)