Ille back from illness; BP hosts invite

After finishing seventh in the Mega Meet at Milaca, Blooming Prairie cross-country runner Alec Ille did even better at the Blooming Prairie Invitational on Sept. 29. He captured first place, leading the Blossom team to a second place in the eight-team meet. Mankato Loyola/Cleveland won both divisions of the meet.
“It was an almost ideal day for a race,” commented Coach John Bruns, “and the boys ran their best times of the season. Both varsity girls timed their best run, as well, and it was a very good way to host our home meet.”
In taking the first place spot, Ille ran the 5K course in 16:28, and Elijah Baker finished seventh with a 17:42 time. Ille’s time was 17 seconds faster than the runner-up. Evan Doerhoefer, Isaac Baker and Jesse Schewe followed the two top runners with times of 17:47, 17:53 and 20:29. That put the three in ninth, 11th and 34th places.
Alison Pryor earned sixth place for the girls with a 20:45 time, and Anika Nowlan timed a 25:24. Ethan Grant placed sixth in the junior high boys’ 3,200 race in 12:53, and Olivia Johnson ran third for the junior high girls in 14:52.  Alison Krohnberg and Rose Michaud finished fifth and seventh in 15:37 and 15:40.
Milaca Mega Meet
Running against some of the best individuals in the entire state, Ille captured seventh place in the Milaca Mega Meet on Sept. 26. More than 150 teams competed at the event, and Blossom runners had a good experience competing against so many runners.
Ille led the boys to a 25th finish in their division, with four other local boys all finishing under 21 minutes in the race.  Ille ran a 17:03 time for his seventh place, with Elijah Baker turning in a 19:37 time. Isaac Baker, Doerhoefer and Schewe ran 20:15, 20:18 and 20:41 respectively.
For the girls, Pryor ran a 22:41 (71st place) and Anika Nowlan timed a 26:23. Ethan Grant ran the 3,200 course in 13; 37 for a 59th place, and Bobbie Bruns ran the 3,200 course in 15:14 (69th).  Other Blossom times included 16:04 for Olivia Johnson, 16:34 for Alison Krohnberg, 16:36 for Rose Michaud and 18:51 for Ashley Brown.