Prep report: Proctor girls prevail at Hibbing invite

Sep. 28—Paced by a second-place finish from junior Lizzy Harnell, the Proctor girls came out on top of the girls' standings at the 20-team Hibbing Rotary Cross Country Invite on Thursday, Sept. 28 at Hibbing Municipal Golf Course.

Proctor edged the host Hibbing Bluejackets by a margin of 99 to 102, followed by Rock Ridge in third with 113.

The individual winner was Bemidji's Mia Hoffman, who ran the 5K in 18 minutes, 12.1 seconds. Harnell was just over a minute behind, while Hibbing junior Tara Hertling took third in 19:42.50, with Chisholm eighth-grader Olivia Pascuzzi on her heels.

Emaleigh Olesiak of Cromwell-Wright, Liz Nelson of Mountain Iron-Buhl, Tayler McMeekin of Superior and Maija Lamppa of Rock Ridge rounded out the individual top 10.

Bemidji was a clear team winner in the boys race, with all five scorers in the top 20.

Rock Ridge took second with 118, while Pequot Lakes, Hibbing and Grand Rapids rounded out the top five places.

The top local individual was Carlton/Wrenshall senior Jack Riley, who took third, just under a minute behind individual winner Eli Hall of Pequot Lakes.

Jack Kendall of Rock Ridge was fifth.

Solon Springs/Northwood runners took the top four places individually and had a perfect team score in dominating the boys race at the Copperud Open Northern Lights Conference cross country meet on Thursday, Sept. 28 in Bayfield.

Isaac Dickenson led the way with a time of 17 minutes, 31.8 seconds for 5 kilometers, and was followed by Dylan Taggart 12 1/2 seconds behind, then Jacob Taggart and Isaiah Ahlberg.

All seven Solon Springs/Northwood runners finished before anyone from Hurley, the next-best team with a full roster.

In the girls race, Maritza Serrano-Orozco finished ninth.

A career-best day from senior captain Autumn Cooper helped Superior snag the fourth and final qualifying position from the WIAA Division 1 regional girls golf meet on Thursday at Lake Hallie Golf Club in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

Cooper shot 80 to lead the Spartans, while co-captain Brynn Johnson also had a career-low score of 91, including a 40-foot par putt on the 18th hole. Makaela Reinke also shot 91, while Rainah Morland and Tara Stratton had 97s.

Superior's team score of 359 was 15 behind regional champ Hudson, but two ahead of Altoona/Regis in fifth place.

Superior moves on to the sectional meet on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at Wild Ridge in Eau Claire.

Sophomore Grace Schmidt extended her golf season to the sectional meet after qualifying as an individual on Thursday at Hayward.

Schmidt shot 99 at Hayward Golf Club to finish in a tie for ninth and be one of the top three players not already on a qualifying team and earn a berth Tuesday at Clifton Highlands in Prescott, Wisconsin.

Unlike in Division 1, only the top three teams in a Division 2 regional advance, which left the Tigers as the odd team out with a total of 423 in fourth place, three behind third-place Luck Co-Op (420).

The Hilltoppers took a 2-0 lead on their home field on a goal from freshman Giulia McGiffert and a penalty kick by senior Mariah Hernesman but Cloquet/Carlton scored a pair of late goals to tie it up on Thursday in Duluth.

Adell Wormuth and Jordyn Sershon did the scoring as the Hunters made it back-to-back shutout wins this week on Thursday at Marv Heikkinen Field at Walt Hunting Stadium.

Cayley Larson made two saves for the Hunters.

Grace Karakas gave the Greyhounds an early lead with her goal in the sixth minute on Wednesday night, while in the second half, Kendall Wittmers-Graves scored a penalty kick and assisted Lilly Kuettel on goals three minutes apart.

Maggie Winesett and Jordin Flohaug made two saves apiece for East, which has won eight consecutive section games.

Matt Eklund had two goals and an assist in the Hunters' road victory in Proctor.

The Spartans prevailed in a close one on Thursday, Sept. 28, as three of the four sets were decided by the minimum. After losing the first 26-24, Superior bounced back to take the next three 25-21, 27-25, 26-24.

Savanna Hering racked up 23 digs and contributed three aces in the win for the Spartans. Setter Carlie Lohman dished out 32 assists and recorded five aces.

On the offensive end, Claire Egnash had eight kills, Tarah Yliniemi had seven and Kloe Zentkowski six.

Senior setter Carly Johnson added 12 assists to a career total of 946 as the Lumberjacks cruised to a sweep at home on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Ava Carlson added 10 kills to her career total of more than 1,000, while Blythe Proulx pitched in seven kills.

On the defensive end, Quinn Danielson posted a team-best 13 digs, but Lexi Niemi added nine and Johnson eight.

The Giants came away winners on the road with the help of 14 kills from Marta Forsline and 10 from Isabella Ruotsalainen. Mesabi East had a huge game defensively, with four different players notching double-digit digs: Greta Levelwind had a team-best 21, while Allie Lamppa had 16 to go with her 42 assists, and Maija Hill had 15 and Forsline 12.

For Greenway, Jocelyn Mikulich had 19 digs, while Ava Johnson was the Raiders' leader in kills with nine.

The Bears notched a sweep despite six kills and five digs from Shelby Hessel. Riley Eberhardt posted 13 assists.

Addie Hanson and Haylei Wermter led the defense with seven digs apiece.

This story was edited at 10:15 a.m. on Sept. 29 to correct Mariah Hernesman's name. It was originally posted at 10:46 p.m. on Sept. 28. The News Tribune regrets the error.