The Albert Lea boys’ and girls’ cross country teams traveled to Owatonna for the second time in two weeks Thursday afternoon. This time it was for the Section 1AA meet and a chance for a state tournament bid.

The girls’ team struggled to climb the team leaderboard with only five runners. However, the boys’ team had one runner place in the top 20 and placed seventh as a team.

Senior Sonny Ortega-Roseli was the top finisher for the Tigers, coming in 16th place with a time of 16:48.0. Fellow senior Sam Louters came in 42nd place with a time of 17:21.1, junior Logan Barr finished in 44th place with a time of 17:24.8 and freshman Gavin Hanke came in 48th place with a time of 17:29.7. Senior Travis Jensen rounded out the top five for the Tigers in 53rd place with a time of 17:34.0.

Also running for the boys’ team, but not scoring, were junior Aaron Bauers in 66th place with a time of 17:47.3 and senior Khan Mut in 79th place with a time of 18:03.0.

The Tigers finished in seventh place as a team, just three points behind Owatonna. Farmington won the team event with a final score of 75. Carter Briggs, a senior from Winona, won the event with a time of 15:52.3.

In the girls’ race, seventh grader Shelby Evans was the top finisher for Albert Lea in 34th place with a time of 20:14.7. Freshmen Joey Maiden and Jaira Maligaya finished in 83rd and 84th place, respectively, with times of 22:06.2 and 22:09.4. Seventh grader Mya Hanke came in 86th place with a time of 22:13.9 and junior Jaiden Venem finished in 110th place with a time of 23:50.4.

As a team, the Tigers finished in 16th place with 397. Farmington won the team event with a score of 39. Anna Fenske, a junior from Farmington, won the event with a time of 17:52.1.