Lodi cross country: Waterloo and Fennimore Invitationals

The Lodi cross country teams competed in the Waterloo Invitational on Tuesday, Sep. 24 and the Fennimore Invitational on Saturday, Sep. 28. Roger Melland and the boys team took first in the Waterloo Invite and the girls took fifth place. At the Fennimore Invite, the boys took third place and the girls placed in ninth.

At the Waterloo invite Roger Melland, Nolan Pertzborn, Chase Maas and Everett Clemens placed in the top 20 among 50 individuals. Melland came away with a 18:01 for the individual title. Pertzborn continued his impressive freshman season with a seventh place finish and a 19:47 finishing time. Maas battled for the second meet in a row to pass his opponent down the stretch for a 14th place finish. At his first meet back from an injury, Clemens had a solid race with a 17th place finish and a 20:36 time. Ben Karls finished the race in 21st with a 21:06. Freshmen runners Carter Karls and Arthur Tippery finished the Waterloo invite in 44th and 48th. The Blue Devils took the top spot with a score of 60. Edgerton finished three points behind for second place.

“The Waterloo (68) and Jefferson (73) boys started out very strong and with Edgerton having a couple of runners way up there, it didn’t look promising for the team title especially since Everett was working his way back from an injury,” says Kurt Wilson, head coach.

Wilson adds that it was a surprise to see Lodi at the top of the scoreboard since the results weren’t posted right away.

“It always helps to put a 1 at the top of the scoreboard which Roger did, but it was also very important for Chase and Ben to edge out runners at the finish line.”

The girls placed in fifth overall with Zoey Bahe leading the way with a seventh place finish. Micah Lee finished in 23rd with a 27:32 and Malinaly Fernandez finished in 28th with a 29 minute finish. Gabby Endres placed in 43rd while Ellie Fahey, Izzy Bahe and Natalie Detert finished in spots 45-47. Overall, the team scored a 132.

The Fennimore Invite has a different format than most meets and features runners starting at staggered times. The race started with each team's seventh runner and the next set of runners started six minutes later. Endres started for the girls team and finished in ninth, Izzy Bahe placed 11th and Ella Johnson finished in eighth place. Malinaly Fernandez and Micah Lee finished in ninth place, Dakota Pierquet placed in eighth and Zoey Bahe rounded out the race in fourth place. The girls team finished the invite in ninth place.

“It was nice to see most of the girls getting healthier as we head to the final stretch of the season,” says Wilson.

On the boys side, Caleb Lord finished in fifth place, Carter Karls in third place, Ben Karls in fifth place, Chase Maas in fourth place, Nolan Pertzborn in third place, Everett Clemens in fifth place and Roger Melland in second place. Melland had a finishing time of 17:24. The boys team finished in third place with Lake Mills and St. Ambrose above them.

“Lodi knew St. Ambrose Academy was going to be tough to beat and Fennimore is ranked in D3. Although Lodi was able to beat Fennimore, Lake Mills ran extremely well and took the second spot,” says Wilson.

The next meet is the Nightfall Classic at Lake Mills on Friday, October 4.