Girls place 5th at Dakota Classic

The Trojan girls cross country team finished fifth of seven teams at the Dakota Classic Invitational at Eagan High School Friday, Sept. 3.

Coach Julie Berg said the squad saw many bright spots in its performance, as well as a few things they will set out to improve upon.

Lakeville South won the meet with 22 points, followed by Eagan (39), Forest Lake (81), Apple Valley (103), New Prague (119), Farmington (151) and Hastings (222).

The Trojans were led by Courtney Kotek, who ran 16th in a field of 61 runners. She ran the 3200 meters in a time of 13 minutes, 10 seconds.

Rounding out the scoring for the Trojans were Maria Friedges (23rd, 13:33), Maria Berg (24th, 13:35), Ella Grote (27th, 13:38) and Molly Wick (29th, 13:44). Other Trojan runners were Korey Wilson (31st, 13:46) and Bridget Ellanson (35th, 13:54).

It was an extremely windy day, but Coach Berg said the cooler temps had the team moving faster than times in its intrasquad meet.

Every team member improved her 3200 meter time from that first outing