The Becker Bulldogs Boys Cross Country team traveled to Rocori Sept. 19 for a large Section preview competition at the River Oaks Golf Course in Cold Spring, competing against 18 other teams.

The week leading up to and during the event, the team used U of M runner Gabe Gruenwald’s quote, “It’s okay to struggle, but it’s not okay to give up on yourself or your dreams,” as a reminder and focal point. Gruenwald continued to fight and compete after learning she had cancer, nearly qualifying for the London Olympics.  

Despite the heat during the meet, the harriers managed to accomplish another three personal records and three season bests in the competition. Season bests were achieved by high school runners Lukas Karel, Wyatt Hiltner and Mason Doucette, and personal records were accomplished by middle school athletes Jase Tobako, Alex Kinney and Jacob Peterson.

In the junior high race, the Bulldogs captured a 4th place finish, with Jase Tobako and Jace Weinmann finishing in the top 20 and five scoring runners in the top 50.

The varsity runners also ran well, with two athletes cracking the top 30 of the section runners with Lukas Karel’s 15th place (17:43.8) and Tyson Ricker’s 27th (18:17.6).

Ethan Tobako was the next Bulldog to cross the finish line with 19:04.9, followed by Cade Stommes (19:35.7), Wyatt Hiltner (19:42.8), Bruce Kraemenr (19:48.1) and David Myers. Bruce Kraemer charted new territory and gave a good showing with his first time competing at the varsity level.

“His time was pretty good considering the heat and the new race environment,” said Coach Dustin Weege. “We look forward to seeing the team continue to develop as the guys challenge each other for positions and work together to advance their performances.”

Capping off the night with cooler temperatures, the JV racers also had a lot of hard fought competition. In just his second cross country race of his career, Mason Becker nearly cracked the 20 minute mark. Nathan Zimmerman and Isaac Bauer remained close throughout much and the race, finishing less than a second apart from each other around 20:22 for the 5km.

The running form of some of the athletes showed signs of improvement as well, as Keegan Murphy (21:05.4), Ryan Boecker (21:06.3), Luke MacDonald (22:00) and Caleb Reckelberg (22:04) looked better during the race, resulting in them recording decent times.

Brock Ramola (22:19), Ben Howe (24:37) and Mason Doucette (25:41) were the final Bulldog racers of the event as the team was without a few of their other runners.

The Bulldogs Boys Cross Country team competed at Buffalo on Thursday, which will be reported on in next week’s edition of the Citizen-Tribune. Their next meet is Tuesday on home turf, competing at Pebble Creek Golf Course Local 9.