It was a day of really good competition last Thursday in Rockford for the Becker boys and girls cross country teams.
Girls Varsity
The team event was won by Rocori, who is ranked fifth in the state, with a very good score. Team totals were: Rocori 37, Becker 102 (in a tie breaker), The Blake School 102, Minnehaha Academy 103, Breck School 116, Rockford 148, Providence Academy 153, Delano 164, Orono 181, Litchfield 236 and Breck and Northwest Nighthawks were incomplete.
“All of our runners did well at this meet and we had multiple PR and season best times,” said Head Coach Trish Kealy.
Becker came away with second in a tie breaker because their sixth runner beat the sixth runner from the Blake school.
“Every place is important and this is a good example of that,” said Kealy. “While the top five runners are our ‘scoring runners’, everyone plays a big part in team scores.”
Bella Duncombe came in as Becker’s top runner in at 12th place with a PR time of 21:25.2, followed by Olivia Babler 18th in a PR time of 21:27.9. Lexi Rose was Becker’s third runner and placed 20th in 21:36.0. Ella McDonald placed 24th , running a season best time of 21:59.1. Tasha Berthiaume rounded out the top five by placing 37th in a season best time of 22:51.2.
Katelyn Brower and Alea Briggs ran well in their first varsity races, they placed 42nd and 54th, each with PR times. Katelyn ran 23:11.8 and Alea 23;50.3.
“These girls ran with good team work in this race and were running as a group most of the race,” said Kealy.
There were 68 total runners in the race.
Girls JV
JV girls won their second meet in a row. They were paced by a second place finish by Kayla Gruenes running a SB time of 23:44.2. Natalie Trenz continues her strong improvement this season by placing fourth with a season best time of 24:01.7. Regan Hausmann placed sixth with a season best time of 24:45.3, Mina Nelson also ran her best of the season, placing eighth in 24:53.4. Newcomer Myli Praught was next at 24th with a PR time of 27:14.9.
“That was our top five,” said Kealy. “With Raegan Leaders, Paige Maunu, and Anna Kuklok rounding out our JV team. There were 63 runners in this race.”
Girls Middle School
Becker’s middle school girls ran a full team for the first time and placed fourth as a team. Adele Changamire placed second in the 2500 meter race. There were 75 runners in this race. The next MS racers were Grace Mork, Josie Reckelberg, Naiya Hanson, Sophia Malisheski, Eaylyn Rickard, and Chloe Peterson.
“We are really happy with the efforts of our team and look forward to our next meet at Little Falls Thursday (Sept 16).” said Becker’s head coach.
Boys Varsity
The Becker boys were seeking some luck at the Shamrock Golf Course to compete in Rockford’s Rocket Run and with a little different approach, the Bulldogs managed to accomplish a number of good marks for the season.
Half the team accomplishing season bests and four runners racing to personal records.
The Bulldogs got to see the return of Senior Co-Captain Ryan Nelson as he raced in his first event since being away for much of the summer training and serving. The three team co-captains of Tyson Ricker, Ryan Boecker, and Ryan Nelson have been working well in guiding fellow student-athletes of the team with quality modeling during workouts and at events.
“These three gentlemen are good leaders and models and each of them bring some unique skills that mesh well and make for a great team” said Coach Dustin Weege.
The varsity squad matched up against 11 other teams and managed to score 211 points in the meet, which locked them into a tie-breaker that fell in favor of the team from Breck who also had the #1 runner of the meet. The Bulldogs saw season best times from Ryan Boecker (20:55=71st), Caleb Reckelberg (20:14=62nd) and Jase Tobako (18:46=32nd), while also seeing a PR time from Tyson Ricker (17:10=7th), as he yielded a seventh place finish.
Junior Mason Becker had started out in a “not so good” spot, and slick footing resulted in a stumble and fall. Although Becker picked himself up and returned to racing, that fall sent him further back in the placements than he’d planned for as he finished 39th. Sophomore Jase Tobako noticed the stumble and was motivated to do what he could to make up ground for the team as he surged to a 37 second season best time.
Boys JV
The JV crew was led well by Ryan Nelson while he transitioned back to racing with the team. He ran well and lead the JV Bulldogs with his season best time of 22:02. Eight other JV teammates also accomplished season best times including an unheard-of, six minute improvement for ninth grader Thomas Cota. Alex Kinney (22:27SB), Alex Schermer (22:36SB), Jacob Peterson (22:40), Jonathan Drury (23:03SB), Noah Bloch(SB), Vincent Martin(SB), Landon Lahr, Denlan Harmoning(SB), Aiden Frommelt(SB) and Thomas Cota(SB) rounded out the rest of the JV crew who finished sixth in the competition with 160 points.
Boys Middle School
The Middle School boys ran a one lap race of 2500meters (~1.5miles) for the day and the team finished third with 94 points while missing Mason Tschida, who needed to rest for a bit due to an injury. Eighth graders Evan Hubbard (9:35)
