Led by three all-conference performances, the Mankato Loyola girls cross country team accumulated 63 points Tuesday to finish first at the Gopher Valley Conference Meet at Land of Memories Park.

The Crusaders were led by seventh-grader Nyeyoup Gach, who finished sixth overall in 16:33.75. Teammate Quinn Adams was ninth (16:45.10) and was followed by Abby Volmary (10th, 16:54.69); Gerae Stack (17th, 17:12.17) and Meghan Henriksen (21st, 17:19.22).

The Flores sisters of Medford/El Shaddai — Adriana and Alejandra — were the top two finishers in Tuesday’s meet. Adriana won in 15:36.77 and identical twin Alejandra was second in 15:47.57.

“We’ve finished 1-2 in a lot of races this year,” Adriana said afterward. “(Alejandra) is always right there with me. She pushes me every day in practice and in every meet.”

Alejandra, who is older by four minutes, said her goal in each race is to stay with Adriana and then try to pass her near the end.

“I’ve only passed her in one race so far,” Alejandra said. “But I keep trying. Finishing second isn’t so bad, though.”

Tara Roelofs of Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet was the No. 3 runner Tuesday, clocking a 16:07.29.

“I was shooting for something in the 15:30 range,” the freshman Roelofs said. “I tried to run a lot this summer and my times have improved a lot. I’m about a minute and a half faster right now than I was last year.”

Ninth-grader Laura Borkenhagen led Madelia-Truman with a fourth-place time of 16:12.81, and Maple River’s Rita Woitas was fifth in 16:16.40. Abby Crabtree was the top runner for New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (8th, 16:43.17) and Andrea Escherich led United South Central/Alden-Conger (13th, 16:58.05)

In the boys competition, the individual race was a battle for second place as Class A’s seventh-ranked Jordan Haroldson of United South Central/Alden-Conger figured to be the heavy favorite for medalist honors. Haroldson lived up to his ranking, winning the meet in 17:18.53.

Loyola’s Joe Goettl was second in 17:38.61 and Maple River’s Eric Larson was third in 17:44.11.

“I knew I’d have a chance at second today so that was my goal,” Goettl said. “That last lap got a little hairy because I could feel (Larson) breathing down my neck right behind me. I had to give it all I could to stay in front of him.”

USCAC won the meet with 57 points, placing five runners in the top 16. Loyola was second with 96 points, putting three runners in the top 20.

Among the top 10 finishers were NRHEG’s Josh Schroeder (5th, 18:09.93), Madelia-Truman’s Josh Arndt (6th, 18:24.94), Leroy Leal (8th, 18:31.41) and Loyola’s Taylor Hiniker (10th, 18:32.84).