State power Lakeville South finished with a meet-low 22 points to capture the team title at the Dakota County Classic held Friday, Sept. 3, at Eagan High School.
Host Eagan took the runner-up spot with 39 points, followed by Forest Lake 81, Apple Valley 103, New Prague 119, Farmington 151, Hastings 222, Hill-Murray 225 and Simley 262.
"I am very pleased with how the girls ran for a first meet," coach Heidi Revels said. "All of them have been working very hard in practice. It was nice to see them rewarded with good times, especially considering the conditions."
Temperatures hovered in the 50's with gusty northwest winds providing a challenge to the runners over the 3200-meter course.
Junior Opsal turned in the highest Farmington finish, taking 19th place in the talented field with a finishing time of 13:28.4. Freshman Maricia Pacheco was the second Tiger to hit the finish line, ranking 21st in 13:32.2
Sophomore Maria Kiminski and senior Nicole Clifton ran together most of the way with Kiminski finishing 33rd in 13:50.5 and Clifton 38th in 13:54.9. Eighth grader Sofia Chadwick placed 40th in 14:03.8; eighth-grader Victoria Jacoby 42nd in 14:09.1 and junior Marissa Stewart 47th in 14:39.4.
"Bailey (Opsal) ran like a machine today," Revels said, "and Maricia wasn't far behind. I'm excited to see how we improve the season goes on."
Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Montgomery on Thursday, Sept. 9, for an appearance in the Redbird Invitational held at the Montgomery Golf Club.
