By Albert Lea Tribune

Ethan Marquardt continues to pile up one impressive cross country result after another. The latest for the Albert Lea junior came at the Mayo Invitational where he finished sixth against a strong field that included several state runners from a season ago.

Marquardt ran the course in 16:52.51 finishing first among Big Nine Conference runners.

&8220;I was impressed with how strong Ethan was at the end of the race,&8221; Albert Lea head coach Jim Haney said. &8220;He beat three runners who went to state last year. All the preparation and effort that Ethan has put in is paying off. He is becoming an elite runner and has a great chance to be an all-conference runner.&8221;

Both the boys&8217; and girls&8217; teams finished in 13th place in the 16-team field on a very challenging course which Haney called the most difficult his teams will run on this year.

Levi Budd finished in 39th place for the Tigers with a time of 18:11.42. Steve Stenholtz ran a strong race to finish in 68th place with a time of 19:06.07, Steve Kreun completed the course in 19:38.13 to take 86th and Judd Bonnerup rounded out the top four with a 95th place showing in 20:08.89.

Chris Dorman and Mitch Wenum ran to 99th and 102nd place finishes, respectively.

Alicia Reyes led the girls with a 43rd place effort running a 17:54.85 while Mallory King took 53rd in 18:17.47.

Alyssa Sager took took 57th place, Abby Randall placed 76th, Lauren Klick was 79th, Elizabeth Burnett to 86th and Marta Behling rounded out the varsity with a 90th place finish.

&8220;The girls did a nice job but we still need to improve,&8221; Haney said. &8220;They know that the upcoming meets are the most important and they will be peaking in late October.&8221;

Eastview swept both the boys&8217; and girls&8217; team titles.