 |
| Sean Dougherty was the third Tiger to cross the finish line at the Applejack Invitational |
Hyytinen's heroics helped Farmington finish ninth in a 19-school field that featured some of the best teams in the metro area.
State power Rosemount won the team title with 79 points. Centennial was well back in the runner-up spot with 113, followed by Lakeville North 119, Minnetonka 144, White Bear Lake 164, Shakopee 215, Woodbury 216, East Ridge 234, Farmington 248, Prior Lake 268, Lakeville South 270, Andover 271, Coon Rapids 288, Rogers 304, Richfield 305, St. Paul Central 400, Bloomington Kennedy 410 and Math and Science Academy 541.
Richfield's standout Obsal Ali won the individual title by a full minute, covering the winding, 5000-meter course in 14:57.5.
Hyytinen finished in 16:04.8, six seconds behind runner-up Wali Ibrahim of Lakeville South who clocked 15:58.7.
Alex Hart was the next Tiger to hit the chute, ranking 28th in 17:03.5. Sean Dougherty (17:34.6) and Devon Webb (17:37.9) finished 60th and 62nd respectively. Hunter Sevenich placed 95th in 18:02.6 to round out the Farmington top five.
Matt Anderson finished 109th in 18:35.6 and Ryan Newton came in 117th in 18:59.9.
"The boys went out there and got after it and it showed," Tiger coach Lisa Lippold said. "It was nice to go from 17th place last year to ninth this year.
"All of the varsity runners ran faster than their personal best times from last year and it was only our third meet. This is very exciting as we look ahead to the upcoming meets."
The Tigers will be back at it next Saturday when they make the short trip north for the Apple Valley Invitational.
