BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
The Becker Bulldogs Cross Country teams hosted the Mississippi 8 Conference event at the community center and the Local 9 of the Pebble Creek Golf Course Oct. 8.
The MSHSL only allowed for three teams to be at an event at a time due to COVID restrictions, so the conference needed to be organized as three separate events during the day in order to provide opportunities for each team to compete.
On the boys side, it started as a dual between St. Francis and North Branch, then after the course was cleared, the next race was a triangular between Cambridge-Isanti, Monticello, and Big Lake. The final race of the day was to be a triangular between Becker, Princeton, and Chisago Lakes — however, Chisago Lakes was unable to attend at the last minute so that also became a dual. Times from the day were then combined to determine the overall conference results.
In the head-to-head with Princeton, the Bulldogs had a very close result with Lukas Karel and Tyson Ricker leading most of the race on the the redesigned three lap course. Karel finished as the top Dog again and his PR time of 17:26 for the 5km race placed him eighth overall within the conference.
Ricker crossed the line just two seconds behind in the race and then teammate Mason Becker placed 14th overall in the conference. Karel, Ricker, and Becker earned all-conference honors with their performances from the day.
Jase Tobako produced yet another PR with his 18:24 and placed 23rd which earned all-conference honorable mention. Sophomore Ryan Boecker also produced a great 36 second PR in the 5km and placed 29th overall. Cade Stommes and Wyatt Hiltner ran side-by-side most of the way as fellow seniors in their final race at Pebble Creek and they finished 32nd and 33rd with times of 19:21 & 19:31.
Sophomore Bruce Kraemer served as the Bulldogs #7 scorer in the race as he finished 43rd.
The Mississippi 8 Conference Team results were: 1). Big Lake (54), 2). Monticello (55), 3).Cambridge-Isanti (72), 4). Princeton (76), 5). Becker (105), 6). St. Francis (153), 7). North Branch (203), 8). Chisago Lakes (DNC).
Earlier in the week though, there was also excitement as the JV and Jr. High runners competed in the first ever Mississippi 8 Virtual Conference Meet, racing at home and submitted times to be compiled on Tues., Oct. 6.
Each team in the conference raced on their home track in order to have a standardized course and the results were tabulated once all results were in. The varsity racers were excited to share portions of the race with their teammates as they eagerly poured into their fellow runners and demonstrated great mentorship.
The day started out with the Jr. High boys running the 3200m race and they did so with a number of great times. Five PRs were accomplished by the runners which were led by eighth grader Alex Kinney, who ultimately finished second overall with a time of 12:20.
Teammates Evan Hubbard and Alex Schermer were back just a bit as they finished in sixth and eighth overall. Mason Tschida, Jonathon Drury, and Parker Spindler were 12th, 15th, and 18th.
Tanner Felton had a significant record pace for his race as he and teammates Denlan Harmoning and Aiden Frommelt finished their race in good form. As a Jr. High team, they accomplished second place overall in the conference by just three points to cap off their previously undefeated season.
Tuesday, the Bulldogs JV team looped the track 12 and a half times to complete their 5k race. Caleb Reckelberg led the charge with an aggressive race that yielded him a 24 second PR. Reckelberg finished eighth overall.
Keegan Murphy and Ryan Nelson worked together and competed their race to finish 19th and 20th. Luke MacDonald and Max Haugen were the next Bulldogs in with hard fought races on the excessively windy October afternoon. Landon Lahr and Ben Howe were the final Bulldog finishers for the event and the team achieved a fourth place finish.
This virtual event capped off the season for the JV and Jr. High Bulldog harriers as the varsity team continued on with training for Sections held Oct. 15 in Bemidji.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
The Becker boys and girls cross country teams competed in a championship meet as well as sections this past week.
Conference Meet
Oct. 8, Becker hosted the Mississippi 8 Conference CC Championship meet on a beautiful day with great running conditions. Due to current restrictions from the MSHSL the meet was run differently from normal years.
Teams were restricted to three per race, so there were three different races and teams were seeded according to projected places. After all teams ran they combined the results for the final totals.
Monticello 29, Cambridge Isanti 54, Becker 57, St Francis 102, Princeton 133, North Branch 143, Big Lake incomplete and Chisago Lakes no score.
Becker girls ran in the race with the top three teams and it was a well attended event. There was great competition and each team really did well. The strong Monticello team came in first. Becker battled well and was only three points behind Cambridge-Isanti.
All Conference honors go to placers 1-16 and honorable mention to 17-24. Alexis Rose, Natasha Berthiaume, and Jaden Kraus earned all conference honors and Ella McDonald and Isabella Duncombe recieved honorable mention.
Rose came in third overall with an outstanding finishing kick. Her time was 20:34.1. Coming in 12th place was Berthiaume with a time of 21:48.2, Kraus was 14th in 21:53.9 and McDonald 18th in 22:08.5.
Close behind McDonald in 20th was Duncombe with a time of 22:52.3.
“This was Bella’s first varsity race since last year as she has been conquering a health issue,” said Head Coach Trish Kealy. “We are so excited to see her rebound in such a strong manner.”
Brooklyn Karel ran a PR time of 23:14.1 for 25th — just missing honorable mention status. Regan Hausmann came in 32nd with a time of 23:37.1 to cap off a break out season for herself.
Unfortunately, Becker’s usual #3 runner — Krista Paulson — struggled a bit health wise and was unable to finish.
“The team ran a gutsy race all through,” said Kealy. “Mid race they were still packing and challenging one another and it was exciting to see.”
Section 8AA Meet
Becker ran their Section 8AA meet last Friday at Greenwood Golf Course in Bemidji.
The day was cold and breezy. The meet was run per high school league rules for the year, There were four different races for the day and were seeded according to times taken from the regular season. The final results saw Becker place eighth out of 15 teams that ran (Sauk Rapids-Rice did not compete and they are the 16th team in Bec ker’s section).
Final team results: Alexandria 30, Willmar 65, Rocori 95, Sartell-St Stephen 138, Monticello 164, Moorhead 181, Bemidji 196, Becker 209, Brainerd 233, Little Falls 258, Fergus Falls 258, Detroit Lakes 312, Foley 326, StCloud Tech 341, St Cloud Apollo 360.
Becker ran the final race of the day against Bemidji, Fergus Falls and St. Cloud Apollo and then their results were merged with the other races run earlier.
“The girls ran well and moved up from our seed place of 11th to gain 8th place as a team,” said Kealy. “This was despite being a bit late to the meet (due to to mechanical issues) and we were unable to get our usual warm up and course preview in before we ran.”
Rose was Becker’s first girl coming in third in our race and 23rd overall with a time of 20:35.1 which was only one second off her season best time. She has been consistent as Becker’s lead runner all season and once again raced well and has proven to be a natural leader.
Berthiaume was Becker’s second runner and she came in sixth in her race and 36th overall with a season best time of 21:24.8.
McDonald was ninth in her race and 43rd overall in a season best time of 21:47.6.
Kraus — a senior — ran her final race for Becker and had a strong finish, placing 11th in her race and 48th overall. Krista Paulson — another senior — raced to a PR time in her final race of her career, placing 13th in her race and 59th overall with her PR of 22:15.0.
Becker’s sixth and seventh runners ran strong and worked well together. Duncombe and Brooklyn Karel came in 18th and 19th in their races and 76th and 77th overall with a season best time for Bella of 22:50.1 and PR for Brookly on 22:50.3
“Each of these girls have been coming on strong these last meets and I really wish we could have seen what they could have done with a full season and more 5K races instead of the 4Ks,” said Kealy. “Our entire team did their best every meet and ran with heart every race. I am so very proud of every one of our girls.”
Kealy commended the team’s strong attitudes and efforts all year long during this unusual season.
“We will certainly miss our six seniors who will graduate this year. Abby Nelson, Jaden Kraus, Megan Gregory, Shelby Dawson, Krista Paulson and Gretchen Graftaas each brought something special and unique to our team. We wish them great things in their future and invite them back to visit any time.”
Kealy wishes to thank those that supported her squad throughout the season and made their home meets possible.
“The activities department and community center and Becker’s golf course all are appreciated,” she said. “And of course the coverage from the newspaper.”
