Melanie Funke must subscribe to the theory that practice makes pefect.
The Minot High junior girls cross country runner stayed in a pack with teammates Brecca Wahlund and Stephanie Greer throughout the entire race and built a comfortable lead in the late stages en route to her 14 minute, 54 second victory at the Becki Wells Invitational on Saturday morning at Dickinson's Heart River Golf Course.
Wahlund came in second at 15:05 and Greer was third at 15:12 to help the Majettes earn the team victory in the 4,000-kilometer race with 47 points.
"We've been running in a good pack at practice," Funke said. "We're hoping we can stay with that pack and keep it going."
The Bismarck High girls found themselves in a pack as well, but took second place with 56 points. Taylor Pintar (15:27), Brooklyn Beehler (15:32) and Alana Fischer (15:39) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Demons.
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Minot coach Glee Mayer said having the top three finishers gave the Majettes' fourth and fifth runners room to breathe as they finished their race.
"It gives you a little bit of freedom in the bottom half of your team," Mayer said. "If somebody's having a down race, it's not devastating for you."
On the boys side, Jamestown senior Sam Larson didn't need to run in a pack to get a big lead. He just needed someone to race against.
New Town's Patrick Wolf turned out to be Larson's perfect running mate. Larson trailed Wolf through the first 1½ miles of the 5,000-kilometer race and then turned on the jets, building an insurmountable lead on his way to a win in 15:27.
Wolf finished the race second in 15:41.
Larson said he used the race as a chance to see where some of the state's competition is beginning to stack up.
"I'm happy with it of course, I can't be mad," Larson said. "I just wanted to see how it's going to go."
The Bismarck boys team took home the top honors. Joash Osoro finished third at 16:03 and Devin Huizenga was eighth at 16:39 to lead the Demons.
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Dickinson brother-sister duo Jake Braunberger and Taylor Braunberger each took ninth place and were the top finishers for their teams. Jake finished in 16:47 for the Dickinson boys, which took fourth place at 105 points. Taylor ran a 15:43 for the Midget girls, who finished fourth with 81 points.
Jake's finish impressed Dickinson coach Jerry Schwartz.
"That's probably his best race of his career," Schwartz said.
Taylor nearly took the lead midway through her race, but was unable to get past the Minot trio and eventually fell back.
She gradually found herself running with the Minot girls between the first and second mile, but then faded as the race wore on.
"I sort of slowed down a little bit," Taylor said. "I was sort of struggling there too. I tried to hold on with them as long as I could and I just couldn't."
