Girls X-Country: Tigers 4th at Shakopee Invite

Maricia Pacheco (front) and Maria Kiminski finished 1-2 for Farmington

The first five Farmington runners crossed the finish line within a minute of each other as the Tigers placed fourth in the eight-team Shakopee Invitational run Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Park in Shakopee.

Host Shakopee, behind a medalist-winning effort by Maria Hauger, won the meet with 48 points. Missota Conference teams--Northfield, Chanhassen and Farmington--took second, third and fourth place with 63, 89 and 115 points respectively. St. Paul Central totaled 134, Robbinsdale Cooper 146, Providence Academy 151 and St. Francis 168.

Hauger won the race with dominant 13:44 finishing time.

"Shakopee is going to be pretty hard to beat at the conference," Tiger coach Heidi Revels said, "because of the times their top runners have. But there is a chance (to move up) for us if the girls have a strong race...I have high hopes and confidence in them."

Maricia Pacheco continued to lead the tight Farmington pack, covering the 4000-meter course in 15:53.2 to finish 10th overall. Maria Kiminski moved up to the second spot for the Tigers, taking 16th in 16:14.2.

Sofia Chadwick (24th; 16:29.4), Maricella Pacheco (28th; 16:40.7) and Sami Hyytinen (37th; 16:53.6) rounded out the Farmington top five. Sarah Cummings clocked 17:05.6 to finish 40th and Lexi Laube ranked 50th in a time of 17:30.2.

"Our girls finishing together like that really helps our team score," Tiger coach Heidi Revels said.

The meet served as a tune-up for the Missota Conference Championships scheduled for next Tuesday at the New Prague Golf Course.