Article Photos

Fact Box

Team Standings

1. Fort Dodge St. Edmond 68; 2. Humboldt 92; 3. Webster City 113; 4. Fort Dodge Senior 124; 5. Algona 142; 6. Prairie Valley 196; 7. Boone 201; 8. AGWSR Ackley 210; 9. Roland-Story 212; 10. Hampton-Dumont 214; 11. Eagle Grove 231; 12. Belmond-Klemme 306; Clarion-Goldfield and Southeast Webster-Grand NTS.

Individual Top 10

1. Lexie Ronconi (SE) 16:12; 2. Stephanie Herrington (EG) 17:02; 3. Natasha Swanson (B) 17:02; 4. Chelsea Keninger (AGWSR) 17:04; 5. Mikaela Pruismann (WC) 17:13; 6. Katie Connick (A) 17:17; 7. Liz Crimmins (SE) 17:19; 8. Alissa Bonhoft (H) 17:21; 9. Annie Klepper (A) 17:22; 10. Tara Jackson (FDSH) 17:22.

Other Webster City Results

22. Paige Bonjour 18:03; 25. Sarah Perin 18:12; 29. Breanne Wagner 18:16; 32. Alicia Long 18:18; 38. Erin Hunt 18:28; 54. Kelsey Griffith 19:16.

Advertisement

WEBSTER CITY - In a span of about 18 minutes, the hunted became the hunter Tuesday evening at the Webster City Links.

Fresh off a second straight North Central Conference championship in 2007 and with every member from that title team back in the fold, Webster City took to the course with the bull's-eye on its chest as it went after consecutive Lynx Invitational titles.

But Fort Dodge St. Edmond had other plans.

Behind the dominant individual effort of senior Lexie Ronconi, the Gaels stole the spotlight and the label of 'conference favorite' from the Class 3A 14th-ranked Lynx as they blistered the field of 14 teams.

All five of St. Edmond's scoring runners placed among the top 25, translating into 68 team points and a runaway victory over second-place finisher Humboldt (92). Webster City had to settle - begrudgingly - for third with 113.

"St. Edmond ran a great team race and between them and Humboldt, now the challenge has been laid down," Webster City head coach Tony Bussan said. "They clearly made a statement that they want what we've had and in some ways I see this as a positive, I really do. We needed to get the target off our backs and to start chasing to get hungry again. Now we have that opportunity."

Ronconi sent the strongest message. Loneliness may have crept into the budding star's psyche were it not for the pace cart that stayed a few yards in front of her at all times. She bolted from the front pack during the first mile and ran alone the remainder of the way on her way to the individual title in 16 minutes 12 seconds. Eagle Grove freshman Stephanie Herrington and Boone's Natasha Swanson finished in second and third with matching times of 17:02.

Liz Crimmins also cracked the top 10 for the Gaels. She was seventh in 17:19.

"I thought that Lexie had a chance to win the race, but not by the margin that she did," St. Edmond head coach Mike Szalat said. "We had a really good night. In my 10 years, I don't know of any team I've had that's done better than that."

Mikaela Pruismann, the defending NCC champion, was Webster City's top finisher. The junior rushed through the finish line in 17:13, good enough for fifth. Paige Bonjour, the lone senior on the team, hung with the front pack for as long as she could before eventually falling back to 22nd. She finished in 18:03.

Sarah Perin was 25th for the Lynx in 18:12. Breanne Wagner finished four more seconds back in 29th and Alicia Long - making her varsity debut - closed out Webster City's scoring five with a 32nd-place result in 18:18.

Like St. Edmond, Humboldt also did a better job than Webster City of packing its runners together. The Wildcats had four girls place in the top 20, led by Alissa Bonhoft's eighth-place finish (17:21).

"We just didn't pack up like we normally do," Bonjour said. "But this will definitely focus us and wake us up. I'm sure Bussan will have big practices planned for us in the future."

Tuesday marked the beginning of what could be an interesting fall for NCC schools. The league meet will return to Webster City in October where - unless something drastic happens - the Gaels will be the team that everyone else is looking to beat.

"We're now the hunted, so we'll see how our kids respond," Szalat said. "Hopefully we're going to get better like everybody else and this is obviously something to build on."

Pruismann, for one, is already thinking about the impending showdown later this season.

"I hope it's a different story then," she said. "This wasn't our best and we definitely have room to improve. We're going to try to chase (St. Edmond) down and now we know what we have to do."