The boys and girls cross country teams celebrated Homecoming this week with the annual Homecoming Football Run, joining forces to bring the ball from Big Lake’s field. Escorted by the Sherburne Co. Sheriff’s Office and the team bus, they made it back in time for the Friday night lights.

 

Thursday saw the Bulldogs’ cross country teams competing at Buffalo, where girls varsity and JV and boys varsity placed fourth and boys JV placed fifth.

 

 

The varsity girls competed with seven full teams and a couple incomplete teams in the 5K course at the Buffalo Invitational, placing fourth overall with a team score of 108.

 

Dani Nuest and Victoria Kolbinger ran with the leaders for the entire challenging race, with Nuest leading ¾ of the way, really pushing the runners from Minnetonka. She placed third overall with a time of 19:56.0. Running the hill well, Kolbinger came in sixth with a time of 20:23.5. The Bulldogs’ third runner, Kayla Gruenes, placed 24th with a time of 21:50.8. Abby Nelson placed 37th with a time of 22:51.0, Jaden Kraus was 38th with a time of 23:10.4, and Ali Garding came in 43rd with a time of 23:25.0.

 

In girls JV, Adeline Kent led the entire race strongly with a good time of 20:44.3. Seventh-graders Tasha Berthiaume and Alexa Voller made good improvements, and came in as the team’s second and third racers placing 25th and 27th with personal record times of 22:46.3 and 22:53.8 respectively. Rounding out the team’s top seven winners were Callie Doucette at 25:03.6, Maddie McDonald with 25:07.4, Bryanna Edling with 25:37.4, Cayla Paumen with 25:56.6. Grace Wilhelm also earned a personal record with 27:36 and Olivia Mateyka ran a season best time.

 

Continuing to improve and learning to race well together, the Jr High girls finished their 3200 with Alea Briggs coming in at 13:57.2, Abby Berning at 14:26.1, Olivia Babler at 14:26.4, Raegan Leaders at 14:48.4 and Anikah Hall at 15:00.4.

 

 

The boys varsity worked hard through illness and on the hilly course, with Basil Ricker continuing his reign as the top harrier for the team with an eighth-place finish. Joining him on the podium was first time varsity 5km runner Jordan Gruenes in 13th place at 18:14.7 and Lukas Karel in 15th place at 18:27.5. 

 

Displaying a pack running team strategy, Tyson Ricker pushed forward as the next Bulldog to cross the finish line in 25th place with a time of 19:04.9. Kellen Hurt placed 29th with a time of 19:24.0, Cade Stommes was 30th with 19:25.8, and with a time of 19:34.9 Wyatt Hiltner accomplished 34th place.

 

Boys JV yielded three personal records and a season best time. David Myres worked hard to challenge teammate Ethan Tobako, helping him earn another PR as they finished around 19:57 together.

 

Blake Soenneker earned a PR, besting his previous record by 10 seconds. Aaron Gregory, Nathan Zimmerman and Bennett Edling followed shortly behind within 4 seconds of each other in the race that improved Edling’s best of the season. Brock Ramola showed strength on the hills, and sophomore Keegan Murphy returned to racing action with a PR that was 45 seconds faster than his earlier season race. The final Bulldog to complete the 5km course, Levi Tesmer, did so in 26:53.9.

 

There was tight competition between several schools in the Jr. High race. Bruce Kraemer lead the team with an aggressive race that earned him ninth place. Ryan Boecker just missed the podium, placing 16th. Just behind him, Isaac Bauer set a personal record with a pace that was 18 seconds faster than his best, earning him 18th place. Owen Kolbinger finished the 3km race with a time of 12:30.1, with Ben Howe just four seconds behind, finishing 32nd. Landon Lahr accomplished a 22 second PR, earning the sixth spot for the Bulldogs, while Caleb Reckelberg earned the 7th spot, followed closely by Braeden Heinen, with Hank Bjerga pushing forward to finish another nice race for his season.

 

Coming up for the Bulldogs is a home meet Tuesday and Alexandria on Saturday.