After sitting out the last five days of practice with a knee injury, East Grand Forks Senior High runner Jordyn Konze had to battle a flood dike, which divides the course at Valley Golf Course in two.
"Those hills were tough on my knee," Konze said.
That didn't stop Konze from setting a personal best on her home course. The senior led the Green Wave, finishing 12th individually in 17 minutes, 11 seconds to highlight local runners at the East Grand Forks Invitational on Thursday.
As a team, the Senior High girls finished in seventh place with a total of 159 points.
Lynn Astrup, a freshman from Warroad, placed first overall in 16:03.8. Warroad went on to win the meet with 50 total points.
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On the boys side, Talon Egland finished in 19:27.1 and Kyle Aune in 22:25.0 to lead the Green Wave. Egland and Aune both set personal records.
"Sprinting all out didn't work in the past," Egland said after finishing 28th. "I ran smart in this one."
Egland also added that he achieved his personal goal of finishing in the low 19's.
Thief River Falls won the boys team title with 31 team points. Senior Beezer Skime led the Prowlers with a time of 16:46.2, placing first individually.
The track conditions were ideal.
"It's a beautiful day today," Senior High coach Kristy Aune said. "Overall, they did very good.
"It can be a very hard course with the dike there."
Dry conditions prevailed throughout the meet. Despite swarms of mosquitoes, dozens of supporters came to cheer on the runners.
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"The fans here really helped," Konze said.
