The Albert Lea boys’ cross country team finished 17th Friday at St. Olaf College in a 20-team meet in Northfield.

Steven Kreun led Albert Lea with a 67th place finish with a time of 18 minutes, 25 second. Blair Bonnerup took 100th with a time of 19:21 whilie Brian Reindl finished four seconds behind Bonnerup for 105th. Luc Malimanek had a time of 20:02 and Joe Daniels was seven seconds behind and finished 119th overall.

“We ran in this meet to give the runners an idea of what the state cross country course is like because this is our goal to get to the state meet,” said Tigers head coach Jim Haney. “Overall I am happy with the results of the meet as my younger runners on the both the boys’ and the girls’ side gained valuable experience against a number of teams that are currently ranked in the state or ran in the state meet last year.”

Totino Grace won the meet for the boys with 106 points. Owatonna finished tied for second with Roseville with 120 points.

Chrissy Monson placed fourth overall in the girls’ 4-kilometer race. Monson finished with a time 15:21. Monson was just one second behind third-place finisher Darby Baranick of Woodbury and nine seconds back of the winner Becca Dyson of Roseville.

“I wanted Chrissy to learn more about the course and I feel she did,” Haney said. “She was just nine seconds from the leader and stayed with the lead pack during the race. She is a confident runner and her ability to push herself makes her a very special runner. The next two meets will test her as we will run against the top teams in southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities area. She is more than ready for any challenge ahead as she begins her push to possibly another state meet appearance.”

The girls’ team finished 16th overall in the 21-team field. Rachel Kenis, in her first varsity race, was the No. 2 runner for the Tigers with her time of 18:27, which was good for 99th overall. Carol Lein was eight spots back of Kenis with a time of 18:39 while Ashley Tewes placed 112th with a time of 18:50. Anabelle Randall rounded out the top five for Albert Lea with a time of 19:02 and a 120th place finish.

Roseville won the meet on the girls’ side with 63 points. Perham finished second with 127 and Eastview was third with 154.