“Friday night was just different,” said Perham Head Coach Jeff Morris. “The temp outside finally changed, and the competition between some top-class A teams and individuals was set. After our first 2 meets, our boys and girls in practice this week looked much more focused. Both teams competed well in the first 2 races but had not found that rhythm as a team. Both boys and girls teams put in one of the best summers, and we have had some good first races individually but not as an entire team. Well, that changed Friday, and it was fun. We talked about this week getting out better and being able to touch a teammate. We wanted to establish our pack right away.” 

Morris continued, “The coaches and I were excited after watching our Junior High and Junior Varsity teams’ race before the varsity. Our Junior High girls started things off with a big win for the girls, then the Junior High Boys got 2nd just 4 points out of 1st. The JV girls would take 2nd just 5 points out of 1st, and the JV boys finished 3rd. We had a ton of top 10 finishes, along with Junior High race winner Bryce Brown. The Junior High teams raced a 3k, and the JV teams a 4k.”

The Perham boys’ and girls’ teams captured both Twilight Crowns with the girls outpacing #1 ranked Staples-Motley by 8 points, led by sisters Gracie Morris, who was fifth overall, beating some ranked individuals from Minnesota and North Dakota, and Mya Morris, who broke 20 minutes for the first time in over two years after suffering an ACL injury in the summer of 2021 and missing last year.  She finished right behind a few state-ranked runners.  The next four Perham runners were a nice pack, running close to 20 minutes, led by Ella Hendrickson and followed closely by Leelou Novotny, Quincy Anderson, and Avalee Brown.  Rounding out the top seven for the Jackets was Aspen Rohde.

“The boys came out after watching the girls, and the energy was awesome,” said Coach Morris. The boys were led by race winner sophomore Bjorn Anderson who outpaced many ranked individuals by more than 20 plus seconds running 16:04 for the individual title. “He had a great spring running 4:37 and 9:47 and then put in a great summer,” added Morris. “It was fun for us as coaches to see it come together Friday night for Bjorn and the rest of the team.”

Finishing 5th overall and beating a few ranked runners was Micah Thompson posted a 16:30 PR, followed closely by frosh Dylan Guck and junior Caden Doll. “It was awesome to see Caden regain his confidence as he was dealing with a lot last track season, trying to get completely healthy,” stated Coach Morris. “Running awesome PRS and rounding out the top 7 in the 5,6,7 spots were Carter Flatau, Brayden Glorvigen, and Blake Swenson, putting all 7 runners under 17 minutes and just missing 5 under 17. We were almost 40 points ahead of Bemidji, who beat us in our first meet, and then 54 points ahead of #1 Park Rapids.”

Perham will be back in competition in Little Falls this Thursday for the Lucky Lindy Invitational.