Favorites don't always finish first

Mankato West's Laura Hughes and Willmar's Mahad Hassan came into Thursday's Hutchinson Invitational as the odds-on favorites. Hughes, who started the year ranked No. 1 in Class AA, and Hassan, who was No. 1 before falling to No. 11 in the latest rankings, both came up empty in their attempts for an individual title.

Hassan ended up five seconds behind No. 12 ranked Zach Mellon of Buffalo, who ran the 5,000-meter course in 16:08. Rounding out the top five were Trent Lusignan of Shakopee, Sadam Abad of Willmar and Nick Lindstrom of Shakopee.

Hutchinson senior Lukus Klawitter was the top finisher for the Tigers in ninth place in a time of 17:08. Dassel-Cokato brothers, Troy and Karl, were right ahead of the Hutchinson captain in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Willmar won the team title with 78 points with Sartell's 85 in second.

In the girls' race, Maria Hauger of Shakopee led from start to finish in a time of 14:50 as the No. 7 raned Sabers won the team title. Hughes was in second place for most of the race, but ran the wrong route, resulting in a disqualification.

Rounding out the top five were Jacque Thaemet of Buffalo, Heidi Peterson and Hannah Kellerman of Sartell and Allie Streich of Waseca. Hutchinson's Alissa Retterath, who is ranked No. 10 in state, did not run due to an adominal strain.

Hutch results
Girls
16. Lindsay Stassen, 15:58
25. Katie Hjerpe
47. Elizabeth Pikal
55. Alyson Farley
57. Laura Schommer
61. Caitlin Corby

Boys
9. Lukus Klawitter
16. Andrew Carlson
23. David Tomenes
40. Ethan Harris
46. Evan Borscheid
60. Sean Ahlers
74. Mike Bassler

To read more about the Hutchinson Invitational, make sure to check out Tuesday's print edition.

Eric Kraushar is the sports editor at the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sports@hutchinsonleader.com.