1st Tiger finisher at Faribault
First-year FHS coach Lisa Lippold has stressed the importance of lowering the difference in finishing times among her varsity runners. At Friday's Faribault Invitational run at North Alexander Park, the Tigers did everything they could to please her.
The first five Farmington runners crossed the finish line in a span of just 17 seconds, the lowest of any team in the 17-school meet. The seven Tiger varsity runners finished within 24 seconds of one another.
"Our goal was to have have everyone stay together and be under 19 minutes," Lippold said. "They all did that even while being tired from a long, hard week of practice so we are excited to see what the upcoming meets will bring."
State powerhouse Stillwater ran away with the meet, out-pointing runner-up White Bear Lake 30-65 for the team championship. Rochester Mayo, Owatonna and Brookings, South Dakota filled out the top five. The Tigers placed 13th in the high-octane field with 384 points.
Junior Adam Wallenta moved to the front of the compact Tiger pack, placing 72nd overall in the 5000-meter race in 18:31.9. Tanner Grubb, making his varsity debut, was right behind in 73rd place in 18:33.1 and Jordan Lugowski was less than a second in back of Grubb in 74th at 18:33.5. Jake Rudeen took 80th in 18:40.1 and Dan Block, last week's leader, ranked 85th in 18:49.4.
Caleb Eiffert (88th; 18:51.2) and Ben Olson (90th; 18:55.1) completed the Farmington ledger.
"Tanner Grubb did amazingly well," Lippold said. "He was our top junior varsity runner last week and moved up to the No. 7 spot on the varsity. He has quietly dropped his times and moved up the ladder."
Next week the Tigers jump right back into a highly competitive field when they travel to Lakeville for the Apple Jack Invitational at Aronson Park.
