The Bulldogs Boys Cross Country team traveled to Cold Spring last Thursday for the Section 8AA Championship Meet where the season ended for the team despite the harriers running well in the beautiful racing conditions.

The Bulldogs came in 11th out of 16 teams. Willmar, with a score of 50 and Bemidji, with a score of 57, were the top two finishers and will be heading to next week’s state competition.

Lukas Karel (17:29) had a nice race as he positioned himself with an opportunity for advancement as he was in the top 20 for much of the race.

“Lukas ran hard and gave what he had during the race, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that day,” said Coach Dustin Weege. “He did accomplish a personal record in the race, and is already looking ahead to the next season as he continues his long-distance journey toward more and more success.”

Tyson Ricker also went out aggressively during the state qualifier race and achieved a personal record for the last race of his 9th grade season, coming in with a time of 17:41.

“Tyson has been advancing well and looks to be near the top of the list next year,” said Weege. “He has put in nice work over the summer and throughout this fall and continues to make gains.”

Cade Stommes was the next Bulldog across the line with his personal record race (18:16). 

“Cade has been a consistent worker bee throughout the season and it was fun to see his junior season end with another personal record,” said Weege.

Four seconds after Stommes, fellow junior Ethan Tobako crossed the line with a time of 18:20. Tobako started out the race conservatively and steadily increased pace and picked off other runners one by one in order to advance himself in the race. It was a common racing style for him throughout the season, and one that has served him well many times.

“Ethan was a dependable racer this season and a good teammate that worked to encourage and challenge team members during the races,” said Weege. 

Jake Nelson (18:52), Wyatt Hiltner (18:53) and Bruce Kraemer (18:54) finished within three seconds of each other while they ran as a Bulldog pack during the race along with Tobako for a time. Nelson capped off his sixth cross country season in a positive way, helping guide the team during the day with positive investments in teammates and his jovial attitude.

Hiltner had a decent race as he’s continued to navigate a balance between rehearsals for the upcoming high school musical and cross country during the latter portion of the season. Kraemer showed up well for the section race as he accomplished a personal record for the third meet in a row.

“Bruce has shown nice potential during his freshman season as he progressed himself into the varsity lineup and was prepared for each race that came along,” said Weege. “He managed to improve his earlier season times by nearly two minutes as he worked to improve himself and his teammates.”

Mason Becker and Keegan Murphy were also notable members of the Bulldog section team as they were fully prepared to race if needing to be called upon.

“This Section 8AA meet was the conclusion of racing for the Bulldog Boy Harriers this season,” said Weege. “But they look to continue their journeys this school year as they engage with more activities and continue their great work in their academic studies.”