The Becker Bulldog boys and girls cross country teams is coached by Trish Reimer-Kealy who is entering her 10th year at the helm. Reimer-Kealy is excited for this year’s group of athletes as they vie to compete with some of the best teams around in the Granite Ridge Conference.
“This is a very cool team this year,” said the head coach. “Good chemistry.”
Jon Tweten — who for years coached the boys CC team — has returned to help Reimer-Kealy and assist Dustin Weege and Reimer-Kealy in coaching the teams.
For the boys, Luke Lahr returns as the team leader after just missing qualifying for state last year by one spot.
“Luke has run a lot this summer and runs smarter every year he competes,” Reimer-Kealy said.
Eighth-grader Caleb Foster and freshman Jonathan Novak will be jockeying for the #2 and #3 spots on the team.
“These boys have come a long way since they were in the seventh and eight grades,” said Reimer-Kealy.
The boys captains are Lahr, Nathan Sydow and Manager Sam Kirchner.
On the girls side, senior Sydney Mastey will lead the ladies as they put in their work to start the 2014 season. Several girls will be vying for the seven varsity spots including freshman Allie Hendrickson, seventh-grader Lexi Dehmer and eighth-grader Tate Spinner.
“They’ve put in a lot of miles and work over the summer and it really shows,” said their head coach. “They are all pushing each other to have better races each and every time.”
The girls captain is Mastey.
New this year is the team’s uniforms which they are sharing with the track and field teams.
The bigger events this season for the cross country teams will be the Alexandria Invitational October 4, which is a prelude to this year’s sections championships the end of October. Becker will also be hosting the Granite Ridge Conference Championships at the close of the season.
Mora Invitational
Tuesday, the CC teams headed to Mora to run in drizzly off-and-on rainy weather day.
Boys Varsity
Luke Lahr led the boys 5K race from start to finish to repeat as champion in a race he won last year as well. Lahr ran his best time of the year, 16:57 and beat second place runner Jon Hall from Milaca by six seconds.
Lahr was followed by Caleb Foster in 13th (18:25), Olsen Pancoast in 22nd (19:04 PR) Jonathan Novak 23rd (19:08) and Dylan Gruba 24th ( 19:13 PR). Becker’s other varsity runners were Keith Sorensen 35th (19:58 PR) and Sam Somrock 40th (20:36)
Team scores: Mora 29, Cambridge Isanti 48, Becker 79, Milaca 109, Pierz 127, Braham 132 . Incomplete teams Zimmerman, Pillager, Princeton.
Girls Varsity
Alli Hendrickson was once again Becker’s first girl across the finish line in third place in the girls 4K race, running a very good PR time of 16:18.
First and second were Cherisa Bouley of Zimmerman(15:58) and Bree Erickson of Cambridge Isanti(16:13). Becker seventh grader Lexi Dehmer came in 15th in her first varsity race with a time of 17:18 (PR) passing several people as she neared the finish line. Staying close to Lexi for most of the race were Tate Spinner (21st -17:39) and Sydney Mastey (22nd - 17:41).
Rounding out Becker’s varsity girls were Ellie Schwartz (32-18:25) Jada Rositas (36-18:39) and Renee Tripp (38-18:48).
Team scores: Princeton 63, Mora 73, Becker 83, Zimmerman 88, Milaca 120,Cambridge Isanti 143, Pierz 162, Mille Lacs 174. Incomplete teams: Hinckley Finlayson, Pillager, East Central and Braham.
Junior Varsity
The girls JV team came in first place running really well as a pack and working together. Haley Benda ran a really nice race, mostly by herself, for second place (19:08). Deedra Lawrence (19:48) ran her best race of the year running with Kayden Westin (19:49) for fourth and fifth respectively.
Lawrence and Westin were followed closely by Victoria Kolbinger, who closed the gap to place sixth, just one second behind them (19:50). Next were Michaela Allen (21:09) and Jessica Sand (21:54), both of whom are improving each meet.
Each one of Becker’s JV boys posted their best times of the season at this meet.
Devin Winter finished in 10th place with a PR time of 20:29, really running well. The other four boys on the team really stepped up their races at this meet. Nathan Sydow finished 23rd (22:24), Kyle Schroeder 25th (22:40), Lachlan Lahr 28th (22:57 PR) and Logan Lahr 32nd (23:19).
The Junior High girls won their race as a team. The 2000 meters was run by Makenna Noaeill (4th), Alli Garding (6th), Callie Doucette (7th), Erika Miner (19th), Laura Pancoast (20th), Ashely May (22nd), Bryanna Edling (23rd), Karly Kowalsky (29th) and Grace Wilhelm (30th).
The first Bulldog junior high boy was Aaron Gregory (21st), Blake Soenneker (27th), Jake Nelson (32nd), Cris Rothfork (35th) and Jimmy Hines (39th).
Little Falls Invite
The boys and girls cross country teams competed in the 49th annual Myron Ahle Lucky Lindy Invitational at Little Falls Thursday afternoon.
The 20 team field consisted of numerous state ranked teams and individuals for both boys and girls.
Girls Varsity
The varsity girls placed 13th overall. The winner of the race was Alexandria's Bethany Hasz with a time of 14:09.8.
Alli Hendrickson PR'd again with a time of 16:07.0 for 24th place out of 126 runners in the 4K race.
Becker’s second runner was Lexi Dehmer in 52nd (16:52.7). She continues to improve with experience, gaining another PR. The rest of the varsity gals ran good races as well including Sydney Mastey (75th 17:27.3), Tate Spinner (83rd 17:46.0), Renee Tripp (95th 18:07.0), Jada Rositas (97th 18:13.8) and Ellie Schwartz (109th 18:43.4).
Team Scores: Laguna Beach CA 68, Hopkins 92, Bemidji 100, Sartell St Stephen 149, Perham 162, St cloud Tech 168, Brainerd 214, Roseau 232, Grand Rapids 234, Alexandria 255, Rocori 283, United North Central 298, Becker 329, Detroit Lakes 362, Fergus Falls 373, St Cloud Apollo 385, Little Falls 420, Sauk Rapids-Rice 513, Foley 516.
Boys Varsity
The varsity boys team placed 15th in the field. The boys put together a team effort with each of the runners earning times under 20 minutes.
Hopkins' Joe Klecker was the medalist, finishing in 15:28.9 for a new course record. There were 138 runners and Becker’s Luke Lahr placed 17th in a really tough field, running in16:55.7. Caleb Foster was 75th (18:16.2) and Jonathan Novak (recovering from a cold) was 84th (18:24.5).
Dylan Gruba earned a PR for his104th place (19:05.2), Olsen Pancoast was 109th (19:30.2), Keith Sorensen 113th (19:49.5 PR) and Devin Winter — in his first varsity race — was 120th (with a PR of 19:58.7).
Team scores: Hopkins 25, Laguna Beach CA 115, Bemidji 147, Alexandria 157, Perham 192, St cloud Cathedral 201, Rocori 202, Brainerd 209, Little Falls 212, Sartell St Stephen 226, St Cloud Tech 263, Monticello 264, Detroit Lakes 310, Roseau 349, Becker 384, Foley 437, Grand Rapids 472, St. Cloud Apollo 568, Fergus Falls 590, United North Central 626.
The JV girls placed fifth as a team with Haley Benda being Becker’s first runner placing 11th (nice time of 18:16.3). Victoria Kolbinger 32nd (PR 19:04.3), Deedra Lawrence 47th (19:40.9), Kayden Westin 48th (19:41.3), Shannon Sydow 52nd (19:49.8) Michaela Allen 61st (20:16.0) and Jessica Sand 101st (PR 21:46.5).
The JV boys placed 15th. Sam Somrock 20:15.3, Nathan Sydow 21:11.4, Kyle Schroeder PR 21:11.8, Lachlan Lahr PR 22:50.7 and Logan Lahr 23:29.4.
The Junior High girls placed ninth as a team with Makenna Noaeill being Becker’s first runner in the 3200 meter race placing 16th. She was followed by Callie Doucette, Ashley May, Bryanna Edling, Grace Wilhelm, Laura Pancoast, and Karly Kowalsky.
The boys didn't have enough for a complete team. Finish order was Aaron Gregory, Blake Soenneker, Cristian Rothfork and Jimmy Hines.
Becker’s next meet is Tuesday at Big Lake.
