WEST SALEM — It was Sabrina Lechnir’s race to win on Thursday, and she knew it.
Local runners have been chasing after the Holmen High School senior for four seasons since she emerged onto the cross country scene as a freshman.
They never caught her, and her final MVC championship race went the way many expected at the Maple Grove Venues.
Lechnir attacked at the opening gun and gradually pulled away to become a four-time conference cross country champion and lead the Vikings to another team title.
Lechnir completed the west and muddy — in spots — course in 19 minutes, 25.4 seconds and was 25 seconds ahead of runner-up Sanjana Musafir (19:50.1), a sophomore from Aquinas.
“It sounds awesome,” Lechnir said with a smile when asked how the term ‘four-time champion’ sounded. “It feels great to know that all of the hard work I’ve put in, including the summer and offseason, has paid off.”
Holmen had five of the top eight runners and easily won the team championship with a score of 25. Aquinas was second with 62, Central third at 77, Onalaska fourth at 97 and Logan sixth at 151.
Lechnir said she built her advantage through power running on the downhill portions of the course.
“I thought it was pretty good,” Lechnir said when asked of the running conditions. “A lot cooler than it’s been even last week.”
Naomi Wedan placed third (20:04.5), Ruby Kinsman sixth (20:43.2), Reese Gamoke seventh (20:46.7) and Reese Tierney eighth (20:58.3) to help Holmen win its fifth straight girls championship.
Onalaska’s Sadie Peterson was fourth (20:22.1) and Central’s Charlotte Yard fifth (20:36.5) to round out the top five.
Musafir’s Blugolds also received scoring finishes from Caitlin Wengel (ninth, 21:01.1), Alexa Myre (13th, 21:7.2), Helen Onyeabor (18th,22:06. and Bethany Hale (21st, 22:21.6).
Yard’s RiverHawks rounded out their scorecard with Brynn Bosshard (14th, 21:33.8), Clara Jantz (16th, 21:51.7), Minna Crusan (19th, 22:07.3) and Kaylyn Torkelson (24th,22:30.6).
The fourth-place Hilltoppers also received scoring runs from Maya Hartman (22nd, 22:26.4), Claire Verzwyvelt (23rd,22:28.4), Madelyn Davidheiser (25th, 22:45.1) and Francesca Vriens (27th, 22:47.5).
Logan was led by 12th-place Kareena Ramakrishnan’s time of 21:18.6). She was backed up by Ivy Miles (34th, 24:11.1), Marlee Stevermer (37th, 25:03), Natalie Pedretti (38th, 25:15.6) and Rachel Sward (43rd, 28:04.6).
