Blue Jays run in final meet before state

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Ken Gardner / For The Sun Jamestown High School runners Kaiann Arellano (left), Elizabeth Entzel (background), Brittany O’Neill, and Allie Erickson run compete in the Andrew Carlson Distance Challenge on Wednesday in Fargo.
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Ken Gardner / For The Sun Michael Sorensen (left), Joe Jensen (middle) and Cory Goehner run in a pack on Wednesday at Rose Creek Golf Course.

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With the state meet about a week away, the Jamestown High School cross country teams got one last warm-up on Wednesday in Fargo.

The meet featured groups of four teams running against each other, with the JHS girls and boys each placing third. West Fargo and Fargo Shanley were 1-2 in the group, the Blue Jays third and Wahpeton fourth.

Alison Allmer, ranked third in the Class A girls’ poll placed second to lead the girls, while Phillip Manley paced the boys in 11th.

“We just needed a hard workout,” said JHS coach Ken Gardner. “Obviously we’re gearing towards the state meet.”

The Blue Jays host the state meet Oct. 23 at Hillcrest Golf Course.

Wednesday’s race was at Rose Creek in Fargo. Full results, including individual times of Blue Jay runners were not made available at press time.

Allmer came in behind Shanley’s Sarah Jacobson, who placed second in the East Region meet Oct. 9.

“We’re not too concerned about finishing in second place,” Gardner said. “It was just good to get out there and compete.”

Freshmen Kaiann Arellano was third and Brittany O’Neill 19th to make up the top three for the Blue Jays. It was the first time O’Neill was in the top three. Elizabeth Entzel (21st) and Marissa O’Neill (25th) rounded out the JHS lineup.

The 3K race was shorter than the typical 4K distance, allowing for a quicker pace.

Manley was 11th to lead the JHS boys.

Alek Dallmann, like Manley just a sophomore, was 14th.

Cory Goehner was 16th and another 10th-grader — Michael Sorensen — made a hard charge at the end to come in 17th and finish in the top five in the Blue Jay lineup for the first time.

Joe Jensen was 18th.

Gardner said it’s all about getting ready for state now.

“We want to keep that competitive edge,” Gardner said. “We’ll start tapering down the volume of workouts, but not the intensity.”

Tags: cross country, sports, jays