Runners received near ideal conditions for the Watercade Lake Ripley run Saturday morning, resulting in some impressive finishing times. The field of 159 runners were treated to calm winds and temperatures in the low 60s for this staple Watercade event.
The friendly conditions resulted in improved times across the board compared to last year’s running. The top men’s and women’s finisher shaved over a minute off of last year’s winning times and the overall year’s average of 37:14 also bested last year’s average finishing time (40:32) by nearly three minutes.
Four Litchfield residents topped their respective age divisions, including Allison McGraw, who clocked a time of 28:25 to lead all females. The 19-year-old bested Saint Bonifacius’ Amy Dettman by 22 seconds in the female competition, and was over two minutes faster than the next competitor in the female 13-19 division.
Mark Mortenson took top honors for Litchfield residents, finishing second overall with a time of 24:45. Anderson, 47, defeated fellow Litch resident James Watt (25:52) in the male 43-49 division.
Mortenson fell 39 seconds shy of catching overall winner Adam Anderson, 17, of Dassel. Anderson, a cross country and track competitor for Dassel-Cokato High School, said he “really didn’t have a goal” in mind for a time, but had an idea he could be in the mix to win. Anderson had confidence from the five-mile Red Rooster run in Dassel in September that he also won at a similar 6-minute-mile pace.
Like McGraw and Mortenson, Tade Jutz was another runner from Litch to top his or her division. With a time of 29:58, Jutz headed the male 30-34 division.
In the female 12-and-under division, the top five was dominated by Litchfield residents. Jordan Schultz, 12, led the pack with a time of 32:29.
Copyright 2016 Litchfield Independent Review/Crow River Media/Media News Group.