Nechanicky produces No. 3 girls effort in meet history, as Wayzata rallies for first crown since 2013, with Dowling Catholic boys achieving first championship since 2015, as Breker edges Heidesch; Venters guides Utah women to title, with Michigan State’s Smith and Wisconsin men earning wins

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Two of the elite individual competitors in Roy Griak Invitational history also celebrated memorable team achievements Friday in the high school gold races at Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul, Minn.

Abbey Nechanicky ran away from the field in the final two miles of the Gary Wilson girls gold competition, but the performances of her Wayzata teammates – especially fellow seniors Teegan Anderson and Grace Mignone, along with freshman Maddie Gullickson – in the last two kilometers, helped the Trojans rally for an inspiring come-from-behind victory against Cherry Creek of Colorado.

Jackson Heidesch was unable to hold off Noah Breker of Robbinsdale Armstrong High in Minnesota in a thrilling stretch run in the Larry Zirgibel boys gold race, but fellow senior Flynn Milligan, sophomore Jack Flori and juniors Max Derocher and Matthew Bootman sparked an incredible comeback for Dowling Catholic High of Iowa, which elevated from third at the 3-kilometer mark to capture its first team title since 2015.

Nechanicky produced the third-fastest 5-kilometer prep performance in meet history to prevail in 17 minutes, 37.9 seconds, becoming the first Wayzata female athlete to capture the individual crown.

But it was the late surges of Anderson, Mignone and Gullickson that helped Wayzata overcome a projected 29-point deficit at the 3-kilometer mark to prevail by a 113-114 margin.

Olathe West of Kansas, last year’s gold champions, took third with 142 points.

Anderson moved up nine spots to take 13th in 19:07.8, Mignone elevated 10 places to finish 23rd in 19:28.6 and Gullickson ascended 11 positions to secure 30th in 19:41.4, with sophomore Alyson Kleyman also passing one runner in the final stretch to grab 51st in 20:11.0.

Cherry Creek, which captured the title in 2019, led throughout the race, but couldn’t maintain its advantage in the final kilometer, resulting in Wayzata winning for the first time since 2013.

Senior Addison Price was seventh in 18:21.5 and freshman Emily Cohen earned eighth in 18:29.3 for the Bruins, who had sophomore Kinley Wolfe (19:31.2) and senior Catalina Aguilar-Rosenthal (19:33.9) earn 27th and 28th, in addition to junior Baylor Wolfe placing 48th in 19:59.2.

Paityn Noe of Ballard Community in Iowa placed second in 18:08.1, Libby Castelli of Sioux Falls O’Gorman in South Dakota took third in 18:13.8, Ali Bainbridge of Sioux Falls Lincoln finished fourth in 18:14.9, Sydney Drevlow of Hopkins in Minnesota achieved fifth in 18:19.2 and Addison Dorenkamp of West Des Moines Valley in Iowa secured sixth in 18:20.0.

A trio of Minnesota athletes also eclipsed the 19-minute barrier, as Luna Scorzelli of St. Paul Highland Park was ninth in 18:30.2, Megan Lee of Bloomington Jefferson took 10th in 18:49.6 and Marissa Long of Chanhassen placed 11th in 18:56.6.

Breker achieved the second-fastest boys 5-kilometer prep effort in meet history to triumph in 15:31.1, with Heidesch producing the No. 5 all-time mark at 15:33.5.

Dowling Catholic overcame a projected 15-point deficit at the 3-kilometer split to rally for a 153-174 win against Lakeville North of Minnesota, with Wayzata taking third with 208 points.

Milligan improved 23 spots in the final two kilometers to finish 21st in 16:27.8, Flori moved up nine places to earn 25th in 16:29.6, Derocher elevated 20 positions to grab 36th in 16:38.6 and Bootman not only cracked the top 100, but ascended to 72nd by surging ahead of 31 athletes late in the race to clock 17:03.1.

Lakeville North was led by Andrew Casey securing seventh in 15:53.3.

Ford Washburn of Iowa City took third in 15:34.0, Manny Putz of Onalaska High in Wisconsin placed fourth in 15:38.0, last year’s winner Sam Scott of Minneapolis Southwest finished fifth in 15:39.6 and Clay Shively of Trinity Academy in Kansas earned sixth in 15:44.8.

Aidan Jones of Minneapolis Washburn also eclipsed the 16-minute barrier, taking eighth in 15:55.6.

Nolan Sutter, a junior at Chaska High in Minnesota, prevailed in the Left Wright boys maroon competition in 16:20.7.

Lee’s Summit West of Missouri earned its first maroon title with a 121-128 victory over Notre Dame of Wisconsin.

Geneva Timmerman, a senior at Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Adel High in Iowa, triumphed in the girls maroon race in 19:07.7.

Brainerd emerged victorious against fellow Minnesota program Perham by a 112-146 margin to capture the girls maroon team title.

In the college competitions, for the first time since 2018, a women’s program produced both the individual winner in addition to securing the team crown, as Emily Venters prevailed in the Jack Johnson 6-kilometer gold race in 20:33.2, leading Utah to an 85-95 triumph against Cal Baptist.

Keelah Barger finished fourth in 20:46.5, with Ariel Keklak placing 17th in 21:18.0, Simone Plourde grabbing 29th in 21:37.4 and Erin Vringer taking 34th in 21:43.2 for the Utes, who earned their first team championship in meet history.

Yasna Petrova was third in 20:40.7 and Greta Karinauskaite placed 16th in 21:16.5 for Cal Baptist, which won the 2019 team title.

Michigan State, led by Katie Osika securing sixth in 21:00.0, was third with 102 points.

Colorado State, which had Sarah Carter earn eighth in 21:06.3, Lily Tomasula-Martin achieve ninth in 21:11.8 and Annabel Stafford grab 12th in 21:13.5, was fourth overall with 104 points.

Addie Engel was runner-up in 20:39.1 for fifth-place Ohio State, which benefited from Daniella Santos securing seventh in 21:04.1 and Andrea Kuhn taking 10th in 21:12.3 to accumulate 124 points.

Wisconsin placed five scorers in the top 15 to prevail by a 39-70 margin against Cal Baptist in the Merrill Fischbein men’s gold team competition, capturing their first title since 2004 and 12th in meet history.

Aden Smith of Michigan State, who was 34th last year, moved well in the second half of the 8-kilometer race to achieve the victory in 24:13.4. Smith, who ran 25:22.2 last season, helped the Spartans take third with 72 points.

Said Mechaal of Cal Baptist was runner-up in 24:15.4, Michigan State’s Abdifetah Ahmed took third in 24:16.3 and Matthew Wilkinson, competing unattached for Minnesota, placed fourth in 24:18.4.

Wisconsin followed with Jack Meijer (24:18.5), Bob Liking (24:18.5) and Jackson Sharp (24:19.5) finishing fifth, sixth and seventh, in addition to Charlie Wheeler capturing 12th in 24:26.2 and Evan Bishop taking 14th in 24:26.7.

Santa Clara, which placed sixth with 137 points, had Nicholas Russell earn eighth in 24:20.5 and Zach Litoff grab ninth in 24:22.6, with Florian Le Pallec of Cal Baptist rounding out the top 10 in 24:25.3.

Lindsay Cunningham of Winona State repeated in the Suzy Wilson women’s maroon 6-kilometer race, improving 39 seconds from last season to clock 21:05.6.

Fiona Smith of St. Benedict, who was even with Cunningham at the midway point, placed second in 21:18.6.

Minnesota-Duluth captured its first women’s title since 2015 and its fifth in meet history with a 65-88 victory over Winona State.

Cailee Peterson finished fifth in 22:27.2, Maddie Verkerke secured seventh in 22:43.0, Julia Nielsen was ninth in 22:47.8 and Morgan Radel placed 12th in 22:56.3 for Minnesota-Duluth.

Cunningham, the fourth female athlete in meet history to earn back-to-back maroon victories, was supported by McKenna Taylor taking third in 21:52.2 and Kaylee Beyer achieving sixth in 22:36.0.

Alyssa Becker was fourth in 22:05.0 for sixth-place University of Mary, which had 177 points.

Ethan Gregg produced the first individual win for Wisconsin-LaCrosse in the Jo Rider men’s maroon 8-kilometer race since 2009 by clocking 25:01.4.

Clayton Sayen, last year’s individual champion, helped Michigan Tech capture its first men’s team title in meet history by a 62-77 margin against Wisconsin-LaCrosse, which also had Isaac Wegner finish fourth in 25:14.9.

Sayen was second in 25:11.1, Drew Kolodge took third in 25:13.3 and Samuel Lange earned eighth in 25:40.6 for Michigan Tech.