Jamestown’s Manley places 26th at Willmar meet

• Phil Manley

(Ken Gardner/For the Sun) Jamestown’s Phil Manley, right, runs with a pack on Saturday in Willmar, Minn.

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Phil Manley was ahead of his teammates on Saturday.

The Jamestown High School cross country senior bested freshman teammate Kyle Schumacher by 19 seconds with a time of 18 minutes, 35 seconds to place 26th at the Willmar Optimist Invite in Willmar, Minn.

It was the first time this season that Schumacher was not the Jays’ leading scorer.

“Phil went out hard early on,” JHS coach Ken Gardner said. “He was really aggressive and he ran a really good race.”

The Blue Jays finished eighth out of 11 teams, as Schumacher was 32nd. Michael Sorensen came in behind him at 38th and Kyle Gee also placed in the top 50 at 47th.

Moorhead won the meet with a score of 48, though Fargo North’s Tanner Bjorlie was the race winner, finishing in 16:42.

Gardner said the Blue Jays’ times weren’t as strong, as the golf course they ran on had the runners either running uphill or downhill most of the time.

“The times kind of reflect that,” Gardner said. “We’re not too concerned about times; it’s more about performance and effort.”

The JHS girls didn’t fare as well, taking last in the 12-team field with a score of 291.

However, Gardner was still pleased with the performance of his crew, considering the top three runners are all eighth-graders. Maya Moltzen was 43rd with a 17:20, while Ligia Schultz (50th) and Rachel Morin (51st) came in not far behind.

Gardner said Morin had an uphill battle because she went to the ground shortly after the race started. Gardner felt she tripped while the assistant starter claimed she fell on her own. Had it been declared that someone else tripped her, there would have been a restart. There was no restart.

Still, Gardner said she fought her way back and recovered nicely.

“She got up and gradually got back with the pack,” Gardner said.

Bismarck Century’s Jordan Jacob won the meet with a time of 15:09, also leading the Patriots to the team title with a score of 46.

With the region meet only two weeks away and state three weeks away, Gardner said the Blue Jays are starting to whittle down the final roster.

“We’re starting to eye whose going to be the 10 runners and two alternates on the state team,” he said.

Gardner also announced a schedule change. The Blue Jays will not be going to Fergus Falls, Minn., on Thursday for a meet. Instead, they’ll head to Rugby on Saturday.

Willmar Optimist Invite

at Willmar, Minn.

Boys

Team scores

1, Moorhead 48. 2, Fargo North 69. 3, West Fargo 72. 4, Willmar 77. 5, Canby Minneota Lincoln 164. 6, Jordan 171. 7, St. Cloud Area 180. 8, Jamestown 196. 9, Hopkins 234. 10, Belle Plaine 246. 11, Sauk Rapids/Rice 304.

Individual top 5 and Jamestown

1, Tanner Bjorlie, FN, 16:42. 2, Matthew Lillehaugen, Moorhead, 16:55. 3, Wade Krueger, SCA, 16:59. 4, Nick Stoks, Canby, 17:01. 5, Ben Burgett, Willmar, 17:09.

26, Phil Manley, J, 18:35. 32, Kyle Schumacher, J, 18:54. 38, Michael Sorensen, J, 19:09. 47, Kyle Gee, J, 19:40. 53, Aaron Ford, J, 19:52. 58, Hunter Braunberger, J, 20:08. 59, Jake Lorig, J, 20:09.

Girls

Team scores

1, Bismarck Century 46. 2, Moorhead 57. 3, Willmar 75. 4, West Fargo 127. 5, Canby 137. 6, Fargo North 163. 7, St. Cloud Area 207. 8, Belle Plaine 217. 9, Sauk Rapids/Rice 280. 10, Jordan 288. 11, Hopkins 290. 12, Jamestown 291.

Individual top five and Jamestown

1, Jordan Jacob, BC, 15:09. 2, Sam Sunstrom, Sauk, 15:23. 3, Taylor Janssen, Moorhead, 15:29. 4, Paige Melin, Century, 6:14. 5, Janessa Meuleners, Belle Plaine, 15:35.

43, Maya Moltzen, J, 17:20. 50, Ligia Schulz, J, 17:52. 51, Rachel Morin, J, 17:44. 73, Teralyn Coombs, J, 19:48. 74, Emma Bennett, J, 19:54. 76, Kristen Gee, J, 20:36. 80, Anna Larson, J, 21:29.

Sun sportswriter Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: cross country, sports, jays