The Becker Boys cross country team, The Bulldog Harriers, is off and running, ready for a successful season.

The team is led by Head Coach Dustin Weege, who is in his 32nd season of coaching sports, including his 10th year coaching cross country at Becker and his third as head coach. He was a three sport athlete in high school and joined cross country in college to challenge himself to something new. There he fell in love with the running community and found the value of steady plotting.

“After college, I began teaching and found some great mentors and colleagues here in Becker,” said Weege. “We truly have a fantastic group of dedicated people here in town that values each person as a member of the bigger team.”

Weege is assisted by Coach Patrick Drury, who also has coaching experience, and whose father was his school’s head coach. 

“Coach Drury invests in individuals in our community and speaks with wisdom,” said Weege. “He holds quality conversations with every student-athlete, demonstrating to each that we all truly care about the challenges and successes of their lives. He’s good at analyzing situations and providing insights that make our system better.”

This year’s team consists of 30 runners and a student manager, 21 of whom are returning athletes.

“Nine of the returning runners have varsity experience, which is promising,” said Weege. “There’s a good mix of veteran cross country runners and leaders as well as a nice group of young, eager runners. It’s clear the team is hungry to achieve some big things this year while working together through some unique challenges.”

One of Weege’s goals this year to build the athletes confidence so they can recognize they have more strength and ability than they sometimes feel.

“This can be measured by the achievements of goals beyond what individuals may set,” he said. “We will continue to work to fight with endurance as we venture forward toward goals.”

Team captains this year are Junior Lukas Karel, the team’s top returning runner, Senior David Myres and Senior Jake Nelson. Also returning this year are seniors Aaron Gregory and Blake Soenneker. Ninth grader Tyler Nelson took it upon himself to put in a great deal of off-season work and has started out strong.

“I’m looking forward to this season as we embark on a new journey with this group of student-athletes,” said Weege. “Each year is different as the dynamics vary within the group, but the guys are really working well together so far. It will be a fun adventure as the Bulldogs return to the Mississippi 8 Conference and we look to be very competitive throughout the season.”

The team began practicing in the mornings Aug.12, and have since moved to after school practices Monday – Friday.

The Harriers first meet was at Princeton Aug. 29, where the junior high and JV teams placed first and the varsity team came in fifth. They next raced at Rockford Rocket Run Thursday, which will be covered in next week’s Citizen-Tribune.

The team’s next meet is Sept. 12 at St. Francis.