Austin’s Shute and Pacelli’s Koopal shine in their final meet at Meadow Greens

A pair of area runners who have been highly successful ran at Meadow Greens Golf Course for the final time at the Austin Invite Tuesday.

Austin senior Marissa Shute went out with a solid fourth place finish and Pacelli senior Kirsten Kooopal took ninth.

“It’s really good to have some really good competitors out here today to get me prepared for conference and sections whether there will be even better competition,” Shute said. “I didn’t feel like it was my last time ever running on this course. I have all the girls behind me that are going to carry through. Sydney (Lewis) pushed me today and there is a very good future for this program ahead.”

Lewis took fifth place on an unseasonably hot day for the race. 

Shute said the weather can play mind games on any runner, but she kept her focus.

“It’s definitely very tough. It’s never been this hot at this time of year before,” Shute said. “It’s a shock to the system. You get up in the morning when it’s 30 degrees thinking it’s going to be a cool race but it’s very hot when the race starts.”

Koopal relished the race as it gives her a chance to run against bigger schools like Austin, Winona and Albert Lea.

“There are teams here where we know the kids and we go to school right across the street from Austin. We see them practice, but we rarely get to compete against them,” Koopal said. “It’s really nice to have a lot of people come to this meet because cross-country meets are early in the day and you usually don’t have a lot of people here.”

Koopal said she has high hopes for the rest of the season and she’s pushing as hard as she can to get there as the season is headed into the final weeks.

“The end goal is state for everybody,” Koopal said. “We’re just taking the training we’ve done and using it to our advantage. For me being a senior, I’m focusing on having no regrets. I’m going to leave it all out there.”

In the boys race, Austin’s Thomas Asmus had a solid race as he took ninth place with a time of 17:05.3. That time was important to Asmus as he has been aiming at it every race this season. Asmus was able to stay energized by the big crowd and his seasons.

“The big crowd seems scary but when you have a lot of people like your parents and friends cheering for you, you have to go hard,” he said. “Last year wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be and that’s what motivated me this year. I’ve got to do even better this year and I’ve got to get faster. It’s the only way.”

Asmus also has one other secret. He uses the music of rapper Eminem to get pumped up for his races.

“Music helps me a lot,” Asmus said. “I put (Eminem) on and I’m moving

BOYS RESULTS

Team standings: 1. Winona 23; 2. RAACE 67; 3. Byron 124; 4. Austin 126; 5. Albert Lea 137; 6. Lake City 140; 7. La Crescent 142; 8. GMLOS 216; 9. Pacelli 232; 10. Hayfield 299

Austin: Thomas Asmus (ninth, 17:05.3); Jonas Hovland (25th, 18:32.7); Jackson Hilkin (26th, 18:35.2); Lance Keenan (29th, 18:55.4); Nate Mullenbach (37th, 19:33.3); Michael Dube (42nd, 19:41.8)

Pacelli: Isaac Johnson (21st, 18:15.6); Landon Phan (48th, 20:02.4); Comlan Assogba (49th, 20:09.3); Alec Klingfus (53rd, 21:00.5); James Schulte (61st, 23:38.6)

GMLOS: Carter Glynn (13th, 17:42.3); Ashton Gehling (43rd, 19:43.7); Cody Hyrkas (46th, 19:58.8); Teague Alden (56th, 21:18); Zeke Phillips (58th, 22:16.1); Calum Sween (59th, 23:00.4)

Hayfield: Chapel Young (52nd, 20:35.8); Steven Gillette (54th, 21:14.7); Josh Gillespie (62nd, 23:43.); Britt Lynch-Moucha (65th, 27:38.4); Seth Pack (66th, 35:48)

GIRLS RESULTS

Team standings: 1. Byron 67; 2. Austin 79; 3. Winona 88; 4. Pacelli 105; 5. La Crescent 115; 6. Lake City 129; 7. RAACHE 160; 8. Albert Lea 176; 9. GMLOS 213

Austin: Marissa Shute (fourth, 19:50.6); Sydney Lewis (fifth, 19:51.7); Aubrey Green (15th, 21:08.6); Anna Asmus (23rd, 21:45.2); Amber Forsythe (33rd, 22:31.5); Ashley Reyes Garcia (42nd, 23:03.3)

Pacelli: Kirsten Koopal (ninth, 20:42.4); Lexi Lewis (16th, 21:09.3); Clare Bisanti (21st, 21:36.2); Francesca Bisanti (22nd, 21:42.7); Lauryn Hajek (38th, 22:57)

GMLOS: Naomi Warmka (29th, 22:05.7); Sadie Bustad (39th, 22:59.2); Keyawin Stier (49th, 23:47.7); Zoe Steinkamp (50th, 23:49.7); Audrey Main (51st, 23:58.9); Catrina Main (55th, 25:17.8)

Hayfield: Hadley Doman (28th, 22:01.3); Scarlet O’Malley (54th, 24:35.5)

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