The Becker Bulldog girls and boys cross country teams ran in the Section 8AA Tournament meet Thursday hosted by Monticello. After the rain and snow the previous day, the course was relatively soggy and the temperature was cool but that didn’t thwart the efforts of the athletes.
Girls Varsity
The meet was won by Willmar, who had five runners in the top 10. Alexandria placed second with the Hasz twins Bethany and Megan) placing first and second overall.
Becker eighth grader Lexi Dehmer placed 15th (19:34.71) and qualified for the MSHSL state cross country meet which will be held today (Saturday) at St Olaf college in Northfield.
Julia Bengtson placed 19th with a time of 19:41. 48 and Alli Hendrickson placed 24th in 19:49.23.
The next wave of Becker girls were, Victoria Kolbinger in 65th (21:50.75), Gabby Imm in 73rd (22:02.55), Tate Spinner in 79th (22:16.80) and Sydney Stommes in 106th (24:26.60).
Girls team scores: 1). Willmar 28; 2). Alex 96; 3). Monticello 110; 4). Brainerd 144; 5). Sartell 155; 6). Moorhead 157; 7). Rocori 188; 8). St. Cloud Tech 190; 9). Becker 196; 10).
Bemidji 229; 11). Detroit Lakes 297; 12). Thief River Falls 375; 13). Little Falls 390; 14). Sauk Rapids-Rice 429; 15). Apollo 431; 16). Fergus Falls 462.
Becker moved up a place from last year's finish.
Boys Varsity
Sophomore Luke Pappenfus was Becker's number one runner, placing 59th with a personal record time of 18:05.43, beating out senior teammate Caleb Foster for the first time this season. Foster also ran well, placing 64th with a time of 18:12.63.
Jonathan Novak placed 80th (18:44.36), Olsen Pancoast 86th (18:50.88), Sam Somrock raced well with a PR time of 18:53.14 for 88th, Keith Sorensen 91st (18:58.64) and Basil Ricker in 92nd (19:05.63).
Boys team scores: 1). Bemidji 68; 2). Willmar 91; 3). Rocori 102; 4). Sartell 113; 5). Alexandria 132; 6). Moorhead 134; 7). Detroit Lakes 149; 8). Little Falls 176; 9). Brainerd 231; 10). St. Cloud Tech 260; 11). Monticello 284; 12). Becker 377; 13). Sauk Rapids-Rice 389; 14). Thief River Falls 392; 15). Apollo 441 and 16). Fergus Falls 451.
The boys placed in the same spot as last year’s team.
“It has been a great season and we are proud of the kids,” said Head Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy.
Reimer-Kealy is sad about the fact many players just raced their final race (seniors) but she enjoyed watching them grow up before her eyes and become good people as well as good runners.
“I am so proud of the seniors and the boys have been with me for all six years and have come so far and been so fun to work with,” she said. “We will miss them.”
