Happy, yes. Satisfied, no.

That was the feeling with the Albert Lea High School cross country teams after the Owatonna Invitational, where the girls placed 11th and the boys 12th Thursday.

“The teams are mentally and physically ready to break through and surprise teams at the Big Nine and section meet,” said coach Jim Haney.

The girls totaled 252 points, defeating Austin by 28 points. Owatonna won with 40, followed in the top five by Rosemount with 66, Winona 86, Mankato West 124 and Zumbrota-Mazeppa/Kenyon-Wanamingo 156. The Tigers had a spread of 50.9 seconds from their No. 1 to No. 5 runner, compared to 21.7 for Owatonna and 2:01.08 for 10th place Rochester Mayo, which had 235 points.

Places and times for the Tigers: Kelsey Johnson, 34th,17:10.4; Paige Seadlund, 42nd, 17:19.7; Mallory King, 48th, 17:32.8; Anna Keesling, 62nd, 17:47.0; Amy Leach, 66th, 18:01.3; Elizabeth Burnett, 70th, 18:10.9.

“The girls ran their best race of the season,” said Haney. “They packed up well and put up some fast times. We ran like we wanted to do well. The team has the goal of beating Rochester Mayo and we are coming closer each week we run. The girls have made great strides in bringing down times but also to be stronger mentally when they run. Tonight they ran like they had business to settle. The girls were happy, but I know that they are not satisfied until we beat Mayo. We get two more shots at Mayo. I hope Mayo is ready for us.”

The ALHS junior varsity girls were eighth out of 10 squads. Places and times: Lauren Klick, 33rd, 19:31.6; Marta Behling, 42nd, 19:46.5; Kyra Dannaker, 44th, 19:51.5; Tara Helgeson, 49th, 19:59.2; Alyssa Keesling, 51st, 20:05.0; Faren Culp, 63rd, 22:46.3.

The varsity boys had 290 points for 12th out of 13 teams, finishing ahead of Kasson-Mantorville/Triton with 352. The closest Big Nine team was Austin, in ninth with 258. Rosemount was first with 64. Mankato West and Rochester John Marshall had 68, with West winning by tiebreaker, followed by Owatonna with 122, Faribault 136 and Winona 156. The Tigers’ spread from No. 1 to No. 5 was 1:55.0, compared to JM’s 41.1 seconds and K-M/Triton’s 3:47.

Albert Lea places and times: Levi Budd, 27th, 17:22.7; Jon Friday, 57th, 18:09.6; Josh Anderson, 60th, 18:29.6; Brock Sorenson, 72nd, 19:14.1; Andrew Irvine, 74th, 19:17.6; Dave Hird, 78th, 19:43.9.

“The boys put up some of the fastest times of the season and now as a team we have a goal of defeating Rochester Century,” said Haney. “I know with continued effort over the next three weeks the boys will achieve personal and team goals. The boys continue to make progress because of the desire to improve. They are doing better each week.”

The Tigers’ junior varsity boys were last in an 11-team field with 304 points. Austin was 10th with 279. Rosemount won with 34.

ALHS places and times: Steve Stenholtz, 18th, 18:43.7; Eric Bowron, 66th, 20:42.1; Josh Klapperick, 71st, 21:05.5; Drew Klick, 74th, 21:36.9; Chris Dorman, 75th, 21:39.6; Matt VanFossen, 76th, 24:59.1.