With 2016 individual state champion Karly Ackley leading the way, Grand Forks Central was the top-ranked North Dakota Class A girls state cross country team at the end of each of the past two seasons.
Ackley is now running at Iowa State. But the Knights are still atop the state coaches' poll. Central-which fell short of winning the state meet each of the last two seasons-won the Grand Forks Invitational on Saturday at Lincoln Park, scoring 34 points to beat runner-up and defending Class A state champion Fargo Davies by 15. Grand Forks Red RIver was fifth at 131.
Bismarck High took the boys' title with 38 points, 31 ahead of second-place Red River. Central was fifth at 145.
"We knew we were losing an important part of our team when Karly graduated,'' Central senior Rachel Torrey said. "It's nice to see other girls step up. In a way, (the No. 1 ranking) is a surprise. But it's a pleasant surprise.''
Torrey led the way Saturday, winning her second race of the season. She ran an 18:51.8, almost 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Megan Lundstrom (19:31.1) of Davies.
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"Rachel was aggressive,'' Central coach Sean Allan said. "She ran the first loop really well and kept pulling away.''
Central had quality balance. Mikayla Weiss was third, followed by Alexis Roehl, with teammates Lauren Harrison (eighth) and Sophia Roehl (18th) also getting top-20 places.
"Our team's average time is actually faster than last year,'' Allan said. "And that doesn't surprise us. You can't replace a Karly Ackley. But you hope the team gets better, and we have.
"We're a deeper team. Mikayla and Lauren have really stepped up. With three girls (Torrey, Alexis Roehl and Weiss) ranked in the top 10 in state, we can't complain. We want to keep seeing the times get better.''
The boys division was a matchup of two Class A top-five ranked teams in Bismarck (fourth) and Red River (fifth). Bismarck had five top-13 finishers, led by Sean Korsmo (third) and Morgan Fairbairn (fourth). Red River was led by Cole Stenseth (seventh) and Tim Dunham (eighth).
"We knew Bismarck was good,'' Roughriders coach Richard Dafoe said. "But I don't think they're out of our reach. If we can get all five cylinders firing hot at once, it will be interesting to see how we do against them.''
Top-ranked Class B team New Town was without its No. 1 runner. The Eagles still had the top two finishers in Jaiven Hale (first) and Robert White (second).
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