VALLEY CITY — A tie wasn’t good enough for a share of a state championship for Grand Forks Central.

The Knights and Fargo Davies each scored 88 points here Saturday at the North Dakota Class A girls high school cross country meet. Davies, however, got a repeat state championship on the tiebreaker — the Eagles’ No. 6 runner finished higher than Central’s No. 6.

“It’s frustrating,” Central coach Sean Allan said. “There are so many variables. But I can’t complain. Our girls ran so hard. They put their hearts into it every time out.

“Davies’ No. 6 runner was ahead of our No. 5 runner, so if it was a tie I knew they’d have us.”

Bismarck Century was third with an 89. “The three top teams within one point of each other — I’ve never experienced that,” Allan said.

Mandan’s Kelby Rinas was individual winner with an 18:15.8 time. Central had three top-10 finishers in Class A senior runner of the year Rachel Torrey (sixth), Mikayla Weiss (eighth) and Alexis Roehl (ninth). The top Davies runner was Megan Lundstrom (11th).

“Their depth got us again,” Allan said. “That’s what it came down to. Our girls ran well. Davies is a little deeper than us.

“You go home happy with the girls’ effort. I don’t know if anybody is happy with a tie (for first) and getting second place. You’d like to be the team that’s one point up.”

Ironically, in Central’s last three meets of the season, it tied for first twice and finished second by one point in the third meet. And the Knights didn’t take first in any of the three meets.

It marked the third straight season Central was a top-three finisher at state.

Grand Forks Red River, led by Campbell Dorsey (25th), finished 10th with a 319 score.

Century boys win

Bismarck Century won the A boys division with 60 points, edging Williston by four points. Grand Forks Red River was sixth with a 188.

Class A senior athlete of the year Evan Sayler of Century won the individual title. No Grand Forks runners finished in the top 20.

Red River had been a consistent top-5 team in the state coaches’ poll this season. The Roughriders were led by Tim Dunham (22nd) and Jake Arason (28th).

“We ran a solid race,” said the Roughriders’ Richard Dafoe, who was named Class A coach of the year. “It wasn’t exceptional, but neither was it a bad race.”

Grand Forks Central, which finished 12th, was led by Ryan Meyer (31st).