The Big Lake boys varsity cross country team finished on top at the Becker Invitational last Thursday at the Pebble Creek Golf Course.

Jack Leuer led the Hornets, winning the individual title by over 30 seconds in 16:21.90 as Big Lake edged Becker for the team championship by two points.

“We are entering the time of the season when Jack really starts coming on,” said Coach Todd Trutna. “He is a championship performer and it’s great to see him excel in his senior season.”

Big Lake’s title was a whole team effort, as three other Hornet runners finished in the top 10. Judd Layton led the “Big Lake Trio” with a seventh place finish in 17:23, while Gavin Flavin and Trent Erickson crossed close behind in eighth and ninth places in 17:29.30 and 17:37.20 respectively. Theo Johnson rounded out the scorers  securing 16th place in 18:34.90.

Eli Henning (22nd, 19:08) and Max Baron (23rd, 19:15) completed the top seven..          

“Becker is the favorite for the conference and section titles, and they are missing one of their top runners,” said Coach Trutna.  “It was nice to come out on top today, but we have some more work ahead of us to reach our goals.”

Girls CC

For the girls, Greta Layton had the first individual victory of her career. The talented eighth-grader crossed the tape in 20:11, more than 45 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

“Her victory was the highlight of many great performances from the Big Lake girls’ team,” said Coach Trutna. “Campbell Slattery also turned in a solid performance, finishing in sixth place with a time of 21:26.”

The Hornets didn’t field a full team in the race. The two other finishers were Alayna Boe (31:26.40) and  Brynn Scheer (32:11.80).

Boys Junior Varsity

In the boys’ junior varsity race, Gavin Vold led the way for Big Lake with an impressive second place finish in 19:18. He was followed by Jack Schmidt, who finished third with a time of 20:15.  Other notable performances came from Avery Jarvi (23rd, 22:28.1) and Nicholas Erickson (38th, 24:12.3).  

“Our next race at STMA allows 10 runners on varsity, so many of the JV runners will get to mix it up with the varsity in the same race,” said Coach Trutna. “That should help set our lineup as we move into the conference and section meets.”

Girls Junior Varsity

The girls’ junior varsity squad had some middle schoolers move up to the 5,000 meter distance for the first time.  Eighth grader Elsie Jagusch led the JV team with a ninth place finish in 26:23, followed by eighth grader Hazel Guldseth in 10th at 26:42. Seventh grader Aubri Judge (26:57) and Erin Kjellberg (27:03) finished 11th and 13th respectively.  

“We moved this trio of girls up with the hopes of having them compete on varsity for the conference and section meets,” said Coach Trutna.  

Logan Lundt led Big Lake junior high boys, finishing third overall with a time of 14:15. Logan Phillips, who has been battling injury, came in seventh in 14:38, while Wyatt Winslow had his best race of the year and  took ninth in 14:48.  

Middle School

Big Lake’s middle school girls also had a great day by finishing second as a team behind Brainerd. Clara Devine led the middle school group with a fifth place finish, clocking in at 16:18.

The Hornets competed at the STMA Invitational Wednesday, results next week. They run against 24 schools at the Princeton Invitational Tuesday.