DETROIT LAKES – It’s been a challenge for the Detroit Lakes girls cross country team to see where it stacks up against teams in the Mid-State Conference and Section 8-2A without some of its top runners.

On Thursday afternoon, the Lakers hosted their home invitational at Lakeview Golf Course and took seventh place out of seven teams. Detroit Lakes had five rostered runners compete in the varsity meet due to injuries and illnesses, hamstringing the girls from the jump.

“The girls did a nice job even though we were lean coming in here,” head coach Ryan Zunich said. “We got a bunch of kids who are sick and a bunch of kids who are hurt. I’m proud of the kids for stepping up to the line today. It’s one of those deals where the kids who ran today are 30 seconds slower than they usually would be at another course because it’s a tough run. You can’t compare this course to anything else, only what they’ve run here in the past. They are at least 30 seconds faster than what they’ve run in the past.”

Even on a shorthanded day, the Lakers torch bearer showed out. Senior Julia Steffl took fifth place with a time of 21:38.6–running stride-for-stride with the front of a talented pack.

“I look at Julia, who has been our leader on and off the course,” Zurich said. “For her to run with these top girls from Alexandria–it bodes well for her and her shot to run in the state meet. Her hard work has definitely paid off.”

Steffl has big goals this fall in her final high school season, and Thursday was a great measuring stick.

“In my years of doing this, she is a really fun one to coach,” Zurich said of Steffl. “I can’t throw a workout at her that she can’t do. She’s so technical, and throughout the season, she becomes tactical. When you’re younger, sometimes you don’t practice like that. You do your repeats and call it good. (Steffl) goes out there hard, settles in and grinds out the last two. For a kid who doesn’t have a ton of foot speed, she tries to run away with it. Every time I asked her to take the kick out of the kicker, she went and went and went. It’s fun to be a part of that and watch that success.”

Behind her was sophomore Karli Skarie in 26th place with a time of 24:58.9. Senior Maria Foltz was right behind her in 28th (25:18.1), followed by Lila Kallstrom (27:01.4, 43rd) and Mia Hanson (37:31.2, 46th).

“Karli is a sophomore, and she just grinds,” Zurich said. “She ran a ton of miles over the summer. She’s just a competitor. Maria Foltz is another senior who came out this season and wanted to break her (personal record). She did it in her first race at Staples. The kids that were out there today set goals for themselves and really went after it. For being a small lineup, I’m super proud of them.”

Alexandria took first place with a team score of 29. Freshman Citori Halbe finished in first place with a time of 20:55.5. The Cardinals had all five scoring runners finish in the top 10. Fargo Shanley (68) and Fergus Falls (85) rounded out the top three.

The Lakers showed promise on Thursday. And, when they get healthy, they will look to build off of a second-place finish at the Mid-State meet from a year ago. However, Staples-Motley, the reigning champion and defending Class A state champion, is a different beast.

“We were second in the Mid-State last year behind Staples. Staples is a great team,” Zurich said. “I’d love to put a target on their back, but that’s not realistic. It’s great to chase them, and second place is there for us. That’s the goal for Mid-State, and we want to break into that top five in the section meet. That would be huge for us. We have to get Isla Pender, Sadie Johnson and Lilly Baethke back.”

In the bigger picture, Zunich hopes this crop of runners can take another step towards becoming a contender.

“I think back to the last time we beat Staples in the Mid-State race, and they weren’t very good, “Zurich said. “It’s going to take a crop of kids that are young and committed. It’s not necessarily the varsity kids. It’s young kids to get out and run in junior high. We need kids that want to be successful and run with a good team. That’s my drive–to get kids to want to work with this great coaching staff.”