LUVERNE – All-Big South Conference honors were on the line Tuesday at Luverne High School in the conference meet.
Schools and athletes in the area were divided into large and small schools to compete in 5,000 meter races.
The school’s big scores included Worthington, who placed fifth in the men’s competition with 132 points. Belle Plaine was the winner with 40 points.
Worthington’s top all-conference running back was senior Austin Kinser. Kinser placed 10th overall with a time of 17:29.6. Teammate Asrat Bonnett received honorable mention with an 18th place finish and a time of 18:07.31.
In the girls meet, Worthington placed sixth with 164 points and St. Peter took first place with 42.
Senior Madison Sieve had a personal-record day with a time of 21:14.86 to place 14th and earn honorable mention all-conference.
Small 5,000 meter schools included schools such as Jackson County Central, Luverne and Windom Area. Windom was second in the men’s standings with 43 points, JCC was fourth with 124 and Luverne fifth with 140.
The Luverne girls placed second with 26 points, JCC was third with 99 and Windom Area fifth with 166. Redwood Valley took first place in both the boys and girls standings.
Earning all-conference honors for the JCC boys was David Botello-Ramos, who placed 17th with a time of 18:57.66. On the women’s side, Naiya Ayers and Cora Pauling placed fifth (20:16.87) and eighth (20:46.45) respectively, to each win all-conference.
Four Windom boys won all-conference: Bryce Green placed fifth (17:00.13), Caelen Ralston eighth (17:22.75), Isaac Bordewyk ninth (17:26.37) and Noah Tjentland 10th (17:27.91).
Luverne’s Marcus Papik also earned all-conference honors with a sixth-place finish with a time of 17:14.21.
On the girls’ side, Summer Mollberg (20:06.40) and Khloe Visker (20:24.89) placed third and seventh respectively.
Next up are the section meets for area schools, as Worthington will compete in the Section 2AA championships on Thursday, Oct. 23 at Benson Park.
Skyler Jackson joined the Globe in July 2023 as a reporter covering news and sports. Born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, Skyler attended South Dakota State University and graduated in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. After graduating from college, he decided to settle in Worthington to work at his current job at the Globe.