Last Thursday, the Becker boys cross country headed to Fergus Falls and moved to the top half of the Section 8AA.

 

With 30mph winds and sleet, the racing conditions were very different than what the team had experienced earlier in the season.  Fortunately, the boys maintained their strong attitudes and were ready to take on the challenge 

 

Coach Weege commented, “The weather conditions led some runners to wear glasses just to be able to see during the race as the wind gusts and pelting precipitation was downright blinding in some portions of the race.”

 

Junior Basil Ricker pushed hard and moved up 18 places from last season's meet as he lead the Bulldogs and finished in 17:52.7.  Doing so, put Basil as the 16th individual outside of state advancing teams from Sartell and Alexandria.  Only the top eight individuals can advance to the state meet, but through hard work and determination he could get there in the future.  

Senior Luke Pappenfus finished at 18:03.2 and had moved up 7 places from his respective place from last season's section meet. Pappenfus worked hard to hold with one of the top packs as he finished in 18:03.2 and helped pull teammate Sam Ricker.

 

Sam Ricker moved up in the race and finished a second behind Pappenfus making him Becker’s third runner at 18:04.9.

 

Justin Kringler finished at 18:39.2. Kringler missed last season's section meet due to an injury, was Beckers fourth scoring runner after leading the race for the first one thousand meters.  

Jonathan Novak finished at 18:47.4 and had also moved up seven places from his respective place from last season's section meet.  

 

Freshmen, Lukas Karelfinished at 19:19.2 and had an very impressive race on in his debut Section 8AA contest.  He managed to improve his course time by 19 seconds in spite of the unfavorable conditions and finished just eight seconds off of his personal record race time. 

 

Sophomore, Jake Nelson ,had a slight injury that became more aggravated due to the conditions.  However, he still raced, as Coach Weege states, “with his whole heart to finish strong and demonstrate his hard working character.” Jake Nelson also moved up eight places l compared to last year. 

 

As a whole, the team achieved a four spot advancement from their placement last season, and made coaches proud of the hard work that they've put in throughout the season.