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| Justin Hyytinen Missota Conference runner-up |
The team finish was two rungs up the conference ladder from last season and Hyytinen's runner-up effort was the best Tiger individual performance at the meet since Ben Kampf won it in the fall of 2004.
Chaska won a three-team battle for the team title with 50 points. Chanhassen totaled 72, Shakopee 74, Farmington 109, Northfield 115, Red Wing 121, New Prague 151, and Holy Angels 224.
Chaska's Joey Deurr won the individual title, touring the 5000-meter course in 15:55. Hyytinen took the second spot in 16:22 to lead the Farmington effort.
The other four Tiger point-scorers finished within a span of 10 seconds: Adam Wallenta, 23rd in 17:26; Tyler Lerbakken 26th in 17:30; Tommy Weigel 27th in 17:31 and Alex Hart 31st in 17:36.
Caleb Eiffert clocked 18:16 to place 46th and Sean Dougherty came in 52nd at 18:35.
"The meet went great for us," coach Lisa Lippold said. "Our guys all ran personal best times. They went out hard and stayed strong throughout the race. They ran in a pack and worked with each other... That's how we were able to move up from last year."
Next up for the Tigers is next Thursday's Section 1AA Championships at Brooktree Golf Course in Owatonna.
Lippold is hoping for another strong team showing and is optimistic about Hyytinen's chances of qualifying for the state meet the following weekend in Northfield.
"Justin has good potential to make the top eight," she said. "The race is going to be stacked, so it's going to be important for him to go in focused on how he needs to run and who he needs to be in front of."
