It was a log-jam at the finish line of last Thursday’s Section 5AA boys cross-country meet and the Becker Bulldogs ended up in third place as a team.  While it was a solid performance overall for the team, three Bulldogs finished high enough to punch their ticket to the State Class AA Individual Cross Country meet: Parker Spindler, Tanner Felton,  and Alex Swanson.

“It was a mere fraction of a second that separated the 2nd place and 3rd place teams in that meet while 4th place was over 100 points behind,” Head Coach Dustin Weege said.  “We ended up in 3rd place again for the second season in a row, just narrowly missing the goal of advancing as a team to the state tournament.”

Those top three teams in the Section also happen to be the same three that were competing last week for the conference title and they were all very close as they sought to run their best races on the cool, wet, and muddy afternoon in Princeton 

“Wow, that was such a close meet . . . we were disappointed to not accomplish that goal that we’d set out to get, yet we won’t let that result define us,” Weege said after the race.  “We certainly knew that it would be tight and I’m so proud of our boys as they gave it their all in that race.”

Weege said there was sadness for the team after the race, yet there was also strength of character among his athletes.

“Sadly it wasn’t in the cards for us this year as we didn’t accomplish that team goal, but we have a lot to be proud of in all that we accomplished this season as we’re sending three individuals on,” Weege said.  “I am also impressed with how our boys responded in knowing and holding to the truth that they had done their best and that they hold great value regardless of how the results may come out.”  

Overall, Weege said it was a very competitive race as each runner jockeyed for position throughout the 5 km course and it came down to a “game of inches” in the end.  The rain from the night before and the misting weather of the day made for a bit a of sticky, muddy course for the Section meet as water was visibly pooled in a few areas along the route.  The runners’ legs and jerseys became splattered with the muddy evidence of a strong, tight-packed racing. 

The Bulldogs were led by Parker Spindler as he crossed the line in 4th with his time of 16:43.9, and he was followed shortly behind by Tanner Felton in 16:49.2 as he finished 5th (one place ahead of where he did last year). 

It was Alex Swanson next for the Bulldogs in 7th at 16:51.9 as he ran over a minute faster than he had last year in the Section meet and moved up 19 spots in the results, a finish that Weege called “an impressive transformation in a year.”

Evan Hubbard out-leaned a runner from Spectrum at the line to finish in 12th with 17:18.1, as he’d improved by 5 spots and nearly 30 seconds since last year despite the challenging racing conditions on the day.  

Only 6 runners from teams not making the state tournament claimed spots in the individual race, with Spindler, Felton, & Swanson capturing three of those berths.

The fifth runner for the Bulldogs was Brandt Hemmelgarn with another sub-18 time and 26th place.  He was followed by senior Jase Tobako who finished 41st in his final race of his high school cross country career.  

“Jase has been on the Section team for four years in a row and he has been a nice team leader through each step of the journey as the boys really respect his insights and value his wonderful encouragement,” commented Coach Weege.  

Rounding out the Bulldog team at sections was 8th grader Holden Hubbard as he competed in the varsity event at a high level and beat several runners as one of the just five middle schoolers in the event.   

“We are excited to see what Spindler, Felton, and Swanson can accomplish as strong runners in the Class AA championship as they hold times that could place them in the top 50 of the state,” Weege said.  “We were grateful to have a number of great supporters in attendance at the section meet, with several teammates (including especially alternates  Alex Schermer, Mason Tschida, and Weston Denne), classmates, school staff, family, friends and neighbors there cheering them on and we will work to continue to make those supporters proud of the Bulldogs.”  

The State Cross Country Championship meet is taking place Saturday, November 4th at the University of MN’s Les Bolstad Golf Course.