That hasn’t happened at a big meet like this for our team in quite some time. They competed hard and earned the team title. The bus ride back to Park was a lot of fun.”

Park co-head coach Brad Narveson

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Park runs Friday afternoon in the 10-team Red Wing Invitational.

Park’s boys braved an initial storm, then put one of their own on Saturday, running to a team title in the 13-team Osceola Invitational.

The meet was delayed for about 90 minutes at the start because of nearby thunderstorms.

Park’s Eli Firchau finished first in the boys' race, finishing the 5K in 17:04.9. Gavin Stauffer was second in 17:13.6, Henry Joa was eighth in 17:49.3, Will Mann 20th in 18:35.4, Ben Paulsen 21st in 18:46.3; Miels Kaiser 41st in 19:37.8, Samuel Craig 49th in 19:59.5, Jayden Rentz 57th in 20:27.8, Samuel Paulsen 68th in 20:58.1, James Waletzko 79th in 21:32.9, Caden Helseth 87th in 21:51.8, Adam Kutz 99th in 22:42.9 and Dylan Richardson 118th in 24:41.1.

“The boys came into this meet knowing if they ran well, they could win it,” said Park co-head coach Brad Narveson. “That hasn’t happened at a big meet like this for our team in quite some time. They competed hard and earned the team title. The bus ride back to Park was a lot of fun. Eli Firchau and Gavin Stauffer finished first and second to lead the way. Henry Joa finished eighth to earn a medal as well. We knew that our fourth and fifth runners had to close the gap to our top three in order for us to have the team success that they hope to have. Will Mann and Ben Paulsen were able to do that at Osceola and that’s why we were able to leave as the boys' team champs.”

Park won the boys team title with 52 points, followed by Holmen with 57, host Osceola with 66 and Mahtomedi with 139.

Jana Hafiz finished 16th in the girls' race in a personal record time of 23:12.2 to pace the Park runners.

“We had some PR’s on a tough course.,” Narveson said. “Jana Hafiz led the way with a PR and finished 16th… just missing out on a medal. But medal or not, we’re very proud of how she raced. Allie Devine ran almost a minute and a half faster this year at Osceola than she did on the same course last year. That’s a huge improvement. And that’s what hard work can do for someone. The girls ran well, and we were able to finish seventh compared to our 12th place finish a year ago. It’s a lot of fun to see the improvement they are showing at meets and in practices.”

Allie Devine of the Wolfpack finished 38th in 24:11.9, Esme Edlund was 44th in 24:46.0, Kalin Randrup 51st in 25:14.9; Aria Waletzko 52nd in 25:18.3; Hollen Thompson 56th in 25:43.8 and Jaylynn Meyer 75th in 27:40.9.

Holmen won the girls team title with 20 points, followed by St. Croix Central, 50; Osceola, 88; Somerset, 116; Prescott, 127; Mahtomedi, 131; Park, 173; Coon Rapids, 276; Webster, 294; Siren, 294 and Cumberland, 297.

Park runs Friday afternoon in the 10-team Red Wing Invitational.