Boys X-Country: Tigers climb to 10th in Duluth

The Tiger Hill-Climbers in Duluth

The hills in Duluth's Enger Park were a far cry from the Tigers' customary training landscape but coach Lisa Lippold's team was up to the challenge, finishing 10th in a high-powered 29-team field at Saturday's Swain Invitational in the Port City.

Justin Hyytinen especially liked the ups and downs of the 5000-meter course as he ranked fourth overall in the talented 187-runner race.

The stellar performance marked the sixth time in seven outings this season the speedy sophomore has taken home a top ten medal.

A couple of seniors, Adam Wallenta and Tyler Lerbakken, improved their standing in the Farmington pecking order with impressive showings. Wallenta ran 17:32.4 to place 47th while Lerbakken clocked 17:50.4 to finish 64th.

Freshman Alex Hart was the fourth Tiger finisher to hit the chute, ranking 86th in 18:09.7. Senior Caleb Eiffert ran 18:24.4 and finished 102nd.

Senior Clayton Webb (133rd; 18:44.6) and junior Sean Dougherty (155th; 19:24.4) completed the varsity scorecard.

"The trip was awesome," Lippold said. "We brought 12 boys along and all two ran personal best times. The course is very hilly, so for them to PR was encouraging to us  as coaches, but also to the boys who realize that we can have a chance at placing higher in the conference meet in a couple of weeks."

Tuesday the Tigers get back to more local competiiton when they travel to Shakopee's Memorial Park for the annual Shakopee Invitational.