There’s a little more than a month left to the cross country season, but already Chrissy Monson has won three meets and looked ready for the section meet.

Monson won her fourth meet of the season Tuesday at the Mankato Invite and did so in convincing fashion. Monson turned in a time of 15 minutes, 4 seconds and beat her nearest competitor by 20 seconds. Albert Lea head coach Jim Haney said Monson took control early in the 4-kilometer race.

“She is running with a great deal of confidence and is looking forward to the challenges of the big meets in three weeks,” Haney said. “She has earned every honor this year as she has put in many miles to get herself ready for the opportunity to compete at a high level. She will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming weeks.”

The Albert Lea girls’ cross country team finished fourth in the five-team meet, just behind Mankato East, John Marshall, Mankato West and Mayo.

Rachel Kenis finished with a time of 16:54 to finish 22nd in the meet. Carol Lein was 38th with a time just over 18 minutes. Annabelle Randall ran the race in 18:14 and Toni Roberts finished in 18:35. Shelby Lageson finished in 19:29 and Ciara Wangen ran the race in 19:35.

The boys’ team finished fifth overall at the meet, but Steve Kreun had his finest day of the season for the Tigers.

Kreun placed 12th at the meet with a time of 17:14.83 in the 5-kilometer race. It was easily the fastest he’s run this season by about 30 seconds.

“He is really putting together some very nice races and has a good chance to be all-conference,” Haney said.

Joe Daniels and Blair Bonnerup finished in 26th and 27th place, respectively. Daniels was less than a second faster than Bonnerup with a time of 17:59.16.

Brian Reindl placed 39th for Albert Lea with time of 18:36 and Griffin Wangen followed Reindl with a time of 19:02.

They boys are getting better every week and I look for them to continue to improve as we hit out peak in the next couple of weeks,” Haney said. “They know that there is work still to be done and they are willing to do the extra to get better as individuals and as a team.”

The cross country teams travel to Owatonna next Thursday.