BRITTON – Aberdeen Christian runners continued to pack it up during the Britton-Hecla Invitational cross country meet on Tuesday.

The Knights had three girls finish back-to-back-to-back for the second straight meet this fall.

“Same place, same order,” said Christian coach Noah Aderhold of the sequence of the first meet of the season in Mobridge.

Once again Kathryn Steger finished fifth, followed by Grace Steger in sixth and Rachel Beaner in seventh.

“I like having three girls who are really close,” Aderhold said. “We can push each other in workouts.”

Not only that, but there is something to be said for finding strength in running in a pack, pushing to make each other better.

“These girls really like to compete as a team. They always want to know what the team points are like,” Aderhold said. “They know that they’re racing right there with their teammate. It does help for sure.”

Christian had just one runner in the boys race. Senior Walker Larson finished fifth in that event.

“He ran well. We talked about getting up in top 5, top 10 group at the start of the race. He held between fifth and seventh or eighth and he ended up in fifth at the end,” Aderhold said. “He ran a pretty decent time, factoring the hills. Britton is a challenging course, hills-wise.”

Overall, Aderhold was pleased with all four of his varsity runners.

“The varsity group just had a strong showing,” he said.

The Knights head to Sioux Falls for a big meet on Saturday, which will feature runners from all three classes. It will take place on the same course as this year’s state meet near the end of October.

“That will be really fun. We’re going to see a lot of teams that we don’t ever see. It’s usually a pretty big meet,” Aderhold said. “The benefit there is the kids will get to see the state course before the state meet. In a way it will be like the state meet just with the vastness of the field.”

BOYS’ DIVISION

1, Kaleb Foltz, Tri-State, 18:09.01; 2, Theo Thurber, Ellendale, 18:26.03; 3, Aidan Thurber, Ellendale, 19:19.03; 4, CJ Bissonette, Tiospa Zina, 19:31.63; 5, Walker Larson, Aberdeen Christian, 19:35.98; 6, Gabby Bellonger, Tiospa Zina, 19:47.07; 7, Jack Bommersbach, Ellendale, 20:10.35; 8, Jayven Maag, Dakota Hills, 20:14.00; 9, Daniel Person, Britton-Hecla, 20:18.43; 10, Blaise Frolek, SCLO, 20:49.71;

11, Leland Knight, Sisseton, 21:17.53; 12, Cody Meehl, SCLO, 21:20.24; 13, Dillon Abeln, Groton, 21:51.79; 14, Evan Wagner, Ellendale, 21:53.94; 15, Andrew Wolff, SCLO, 22:09.26.

GIRLS’ DIVISION

1, Dreah Frolek, SCLO, 20:22.69; 2, Madison Zirbel, Dakota Hills, 20:26.73; 3, Norah Entzi, Edgeley-Kulm, 20:41.68; 4, Olivia Frolek, SCLO, 21:04.22; 5, Kathryn Steger, Aberdeen Christian, 21:52.97; 6, Grace Steger, Aberdeen Christian, 22:33.93; 7, Rachel Beaner, Aberdeen Christian, 22:40.08; 8, Eva Benike, Dakota Hills, 25:21.13; 9, Jozi Duffy, LaMoure, 25:21.53; 10, McKenna Glynn, Ellendale, 26:02.87;

11, Brynn Gibson, Ellendale, 26:15.85; 12, Emily Fredenburg, Edgeley-Kulm, 27:02.49; 13, Kali Norton, Ellendale, 27:30.37; 14, Cheyenne Treat, SCLO, 28:44.83; 15, Chesney Greseth, Tri-State, 33:17.40.