The Becker Boys XC harriers competed in the Granite Ridge Conference Meet on Tuesday at Stones Throw Golf Course in Milaca while surrounded by the beautiful colors of fall.  

 

The Bulldogs pulled off their greatest conference performance in over a decade as they achieved a third place finish (behind the Little Falls team and the returning class A champions of Mora).  This marks the first time the Bulldogs have cracked the top three of the competitive Granite Ridge Conference.

 

Brothers Basil Ricker and Sam Ricker earned All-Conference Awards as they placed fifth and sixth respectively.  Senior Luke Pappenfus earned "All-Conference Honorable Mention" as he placed 17th.  

 

Senior Jonathan Novak placed 24th and was followed by teammates sophomore Jake Nelson and freshman Lukas Karel who placed 32nd and 33rd with their Personal Record (PR) performances.  

 

Bennett Edling & Lachlan Lahr rounded out the Bulldog runners as they placed 42nd and 47th.

 

The Junior Varsity runners had a good experience at the Conference meet as well as they finished fifth and had three significant PRs.  

 

Brock Ramola dropped 15 seconds off of his PR, Tyson Ricker hurried 32 seconds faster to cross the line at 19:15, and freshman Nathan Zimmerman swiftly ran to shave 43 seconds off of his time to finish his 5k in 19:22.

 

The Becker Jr. High Boys had a number of solid performances and captured the 2nd place spot.  

 

“They demonstrated some strong promise for future years with Becker XC as seven runners improved their race times,” states Coach Weege.

 

 Kellen Hurt continued his top 10 performance streak as he crossed in fifth and was joined by teammate Ryan Boecker who finished 10th despite a toe injury. 

 

 Isaac Bauerhad a breakout performance as he dropped 25 seconds from his time along with Owen Kolbinger who dropped 39 seconds.  Also, Jacob Cook, Bruce Kraemer, Caleb Reckelberg and Sam Warren improved their times to finish out their racing season.

 

“The Granite Ridge Conference meet works out to be the final race for a number of members of the cross country team as only nine runners can be on the section lineup, so the Conference meet is always a special one for our team.  The coaching staff has been very pleased with the running that each of these guys did throughout the season.  We will be sad to not have our seven seniors along for the conference meet next year, but we have been thankful to have them competing this season.  Seniors Justin Kringler, Lachlan Lahr, Jon Novak, Luke Pappenfus, Erik Parson, Evan Schafer and Jacob Drury have invested a lot into the Becker XC program and have certainly made many positive impacts for the team.  While a few have battled some injuries during the season, they have continued to embody great team spirit and competitiveness that will carry them far as they work to run the race of life with endurance,” states Coach Weege.

 

Up next the Bulldog harriers prepare for the challenging Section 8AA meet in Fergus Falls Thursday. The Bulldogs look to improve their section position from last season and hope to perform so that they can achieve their highest ever 8AA placement.