SIOUX FALLS — The Huron girls’ cross country team finished seventh at the Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet, which was held Saturday at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls.

Brandon Valley won the girls’ ESD title with 21 points, while Harrisburg was second at 44.

Rounding out the field of teams were Watertown at 102, Pierre at 107, Aberdeen Central at 134, Yankton at 138, Huron at 187 and Mitchell at 219.

“We knew as a team, we had a chance to place ahead of Mitchell and possibly Brookings,” Huron coach Angie Thomas said. “However, we needed five girls to have their best races today and that’s exactly what they did.”

Mia Wentzy of Brandon Valley won the girls’ varsity race in 18:09.4, while Hannah Genrich of Harrisburg was second at 18:32.1. Rounding out the top five were Addison Scholten of Brandon Valley at 18:36.8, Sarah VanDeBerg of Brandon Valley at 18:48.6 and Grace McElroy of Watertown at 18:48.8.

Sophomore Josie Vlieger was the top runner for the Tigers. She recorded her first personal record in the past two years to finish in spot No. 24 at 20:21.3. Freshman Lily Meyer was 40th at 21:24.3, which was a season-best mark.

Huron senior Tatum Peterson was just a second off her personal-best mark, finishing 45th at 21:41:3.

“She had an amazing race,” Thomas said of Peterson. “She always tells me during practice that her second mile is her worst, and I always tell her that she needs to clear that thought from her mind and tell herself ‘I’m strong’ and “I’ve got this’.

“I don’t know if she was telling herself that this morning or if she just went out there and got it done, but whatever she did, she got it figured out,” she said.

Freshman Nora Pester turned in a personal record by knocking off more than a minute from her previous best with a 22:13.2 to finish 50th.

Eighth-grader Reva McGaugh, who rounded out the scoring lineup for Huron, posted a time of 23:26.7 to finish 61st in what was just her second ever 5K race.

“I brought up Reva McGaugh, who only ever ran a 5K at Andy’s Road Race, because she’s been running with Tatum, Lily and Nora during practice and she’s had some good 3K times in the middle school races,” Thomas said.

Rounding out the lineup for the Huron girls were Hannah Schoenfelder at 26:03.0 and Kayeleigh Bowden at 26:29.9.

The Huron boys’ team finished ninth on Saturday.

Brookings had 67 points to edge Aberdeen Central by two points to win the boys’ ESD title. Yankton was third at 82, followed by Brandon Valley at 98, Pierre at 107, Watertown at 114, Harrisburg at 177, Mitchell at 216 and Huron at 278.

“The varsity boys had a tough mountain to climb and they just couldn’t pull it off,” Thomas said. “But it wasn’t because they didn’t race well.”

Jared Lutmer of Pierre won the boys’ varsity race in 15:19.9, while Mikah Peters of Brandon Valley was second at 15:36.0.

Rounding out the top five were Dylan Payer of Yankton at 15:43.4, Joseph Perkins of Aberdeen Central at 16:01.8, and Ernest Ting of Brookings at 16:06.8.

Freshman Teagan Lien was the top runner for the Tigers. He placed 61st with a time of 18:44.7, which was just 13 seconds shy of a personal record.

Freshman James Weir turned in his fastest time ever at 19:01.5 to finish 67th for Huron. Also turning in a personal record was junior Angelo Medina with a 19:02.8 to finish a spot behind Weir.

Antwon Flying Hawk turned in a personal-best mark of 19:26.3 to finish 73rd for the Tigers, while TJ Lien returned to the lineup for the Tigers after being out since the beginning of the season with a stress fracture. He finished 77th at 20:10.2.

“He won’t run at the Roger Loecher Invite on Thursday and then he’ll be re-evaluated to see if he can run at state,” Thomas said of Lien.

Rounding out the lineup for Huron on Saturday were Edvin Rodriguez Reyes at 20:14.1 and Alec Pester at 20:16.8.

Huron will host the Roger Loecker Invite at 4 p.m. Thursday at Broadland Creek Golf Course and then return to Yankton Trail Park for the Class AA State Meet on Oct. 21.

Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet
Oct. 7 at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls

Varsity Boys
Team scores: 1, Brookings 67; 2, Aberdeen Central 69; 3, Yankton 82; 4, Brandon Valley 98; 5, Pierre 107; 6, Watertown 114; 7, Harrisburg 216; 8, Mitchell 216; 9, Huron 278.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Jared Lutmer, P, 15:19.9; 61, Teagan Lien, HU, 18:44.7; 67, James Weir, HU, 19:01.5; 68, Angelo Medina, HU, 19:02.8; 70, Will Knippling, HU, 19:13.2; 73, Antwon Flying Hawk, HU, 19:26.3; 77, TJ Lien, HU, 20:10.2; 78, Edvin Rodriguez Reyes, HU, 20:14.1; 79, Alec Pester, HU, 20:16.8.

Varsity Girls
Team scores: 1, Brandon Valley 21; 2, Harrisburg 44; 3, Watertown 102; 4, Pierre 107; 5, Aberdeen Central 134; 6, Yankton 138; 7, Huron 187; 8, Mitchell 219.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Mia Wentzy, BV, 18:09.4; 24, Josie Vlieger, HU, 20:21.3; 40, Lily Meyer, HU, 21:24.3; 45, Tatum Peterson, HU, 21:41.3; 50, Nora Pester, HU, 22:13.2; 61, Reva McGaugh, HU, 23:26.7; 69, Hannah Schoenfelder, HU, 26:03.0; 70, Kayeleigh Bowden, HU, 26:29.9.

Junior Varsity Boys
Team scores: 1, Brandon Valley 27; 2, Aberdeen Central 36; 3, Yankton 108; 4, Pierre 114; 5, Harrisburg 131; 6, Watertown 144; 7, Huron 183; 8, Mitchell 188.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Rylan Johnson AC, 13:54.7; 27, Roel Rodriguez Reyes, HU, 15:52.3; 37, Sebastian Olivo, HU, 16:26.9; 39, Joshua Olivo, HU, 16:47.1; 43, Ryan Florey, HU, 17:16.0; 47, Emerson Sarvis, HU, 17:30.0; 48, Lucas Chaparro Harms, HU, 17:44.3.

Junior Varsity Girls
Team scores: 1, Harrisburg 18; 2, Aberdeen Central 43; 3, Brookings 97; 4, Brandon Valley 105; 5, Yankton 113; 6, Watertown 148.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Emma Savey, HA, 16:45.6.

Middle School Boys
Team scores: 1, Brookings 51; 2, Brandon Valley 57; 3, Pierre 99; 4, Harrisburg 113; 5, Yankton 116; 6, Aberdeen Central 127; 7, Watertown 182; 8, Huron 235; 9, Mitchell 241.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Dylan Haar, B, 10:22.8; 29, Maxwell Radke, HU, 11:48.8; 57, Sawyer Storm, HU, 12:35.5; 64, Tucker Lien, HU, 12:49.2; 66, Ira Sarvis, HU, 12:52.5; 68, Colt Fenske, HU, 13:03.1; 69, Corbin Fuchs, HU, 13:12.0; 72, Luke Vlieger, HU, 13:23.4; 75, Charleston Wachter, HU, 13:32.0; 77, Hayze Goertz, HU, 13:38.2.

Middle School Girls
Team scores: 1, Brookings 45; 2, Harrisburg 47; 3, Pierre 79; 4, Brandon Valley 102; 5, Aberdeen Central 106; 6, Yankton 188; 7, Huron 196; 8, Watertown 220; 9, Mitchell 251.

Individual results (winner and Huron runners): 1, Brianna Reilly, HA, 11:06.0; 7, Stokley Palmer, HU, 12:28.4; 52, Kinsley Armstrong, HU, 13:58.0; 54, Harper Spilde, HU, 14:13.2; 62, Natalee McGaugh, HU, 14:40.5; 71, Olivia Hoff, HU, 21:46.1.