Becker's ninth grader Dani Nuest had a battle with Zimmerman's senior runner Cheresa Bouley for the entire race.  Bouley out-kicked Nuest in the end for first place (19:40.4) while Nuest took second (19:46.4).  

 

For third, Albany's Kaltoff (20:02.2) beat out Becker’s Lexi Dehmer (20:02.9) by just seven-tenths of a second. 

 

“Lexi is getting stronger every meet and is giving really great effort in her races,” said Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy. 

 

Victoria Kolbinger placed fifth,  running a time of 20:19.3.  Adeline Kent place 12th (20:43.5) and.  earning a PR in 20th place was Abby Nelson. 

 

“She really stepped up and performed great at this meet with a time of 21:25.7,” said Reimer-Kealy.  

 

Placing 22nd was Kayla Gruenes (21:43.7) and 29th Tasha Berthiaume (22:18.4).   Running exhibition for Becker was Jaden Kraus. There were 52 runners not including the exhibition runners.

 

In Tuesday’s race, the top 15 girls earn all conference awards and 16-20 get honorable mention.  Becker girls had four all conference in Nuest, Dehmer, Kolbinger and Kent.  Honorable mention went to Nelson.

 

“These girls knew that they would have good competition for the team title and really came to run,” said the head coach. “They did a great job and deserve the win.”

 

Team scores were Becker 43, Zimmerman 53, Albany 82, Mora 86, Little Falls 117, Milaca 1134, St Cloud Cathedral 162 and Foley 232.

 

 

Becker’s JV girls also brought home first place as a team!  

 

Team scores were Becker 32, Little Falls 39, Albany 56, Mora 107, St Cloud Cathedral 155, Foley and Milaca was incomplete.

 

Senior Alli Garding ran her personal best time (22:12.4) to place first. Makenna Noaiell paced herself behind Alli and placed second in 22:43.3.  Alexa Voller came in seventh (23:44.5) Cayla Pauman ninth (SB 23:49.8) and Callie Doucette 13th (24:15.5).  

 

Tate Spinner placed 16th in a season best time (24:42.1), Maddy Schmitz 27th (26:08.1), Olivia Mateyka 33rd (26:50.3) and Grace Wilhelm 38th (27:32.8). There were 62 total runners.

 

 

The junior high girls placed third and team scores were  Foley 24, Albany 49, Becker 63, Little Falls 90, St Cloud Cathedral 114, Milaca, Zimmerman and Mora was incomplete.

 

Alea Briggs placed sixth (14:33.3), Anikah Hall 11th (14:57.3), Olivia Babler 12th (14:57.6),  Raegan Leaders 19th (15:39.0), and Jaci Heitkamp 32nd (17:35.7).  Abi Berning was out due to a recent concussion. 

 

 

With 14 personal records (PRs)  and a couple more season bests (SBs), the Bulldogs accomplished the highest ever finish in conference championship history as they earned runner-up status behind the #9 ranked team in the state.

 

Basil Ricker and Lukas Karel were close by each other throughout the race, challenging the top conference runners in the lead pack.  Ricker and Karel were able to encourage and challenge each other which brought each to top 10 finishes. 

 

 Jordan Gruenes spent a good portion of the race in the ninth place position, but during the final mile of race he advanced his position and managed to become the top Bulldog finisher, earning third place with a 20 second PR of 17:20.5.  Ricker crossed the line as the fifth place finisher  with a time of 17:22.8 and Karel was 11 seconds behind, finishing sixth.  Gruenes, Ricker and Karel all earned all-conference honors with their performances.  

 

Tyson Ricker spent half of the race at the edge of earning honorable mention as he and Kellen Hurt were close to being in the top 20.  Hurt finished 23rd and improve his PR by 31 seconds.  Tyson Ricker finished in 18:32.6 which was a nine second PR for him.  

 

Jake Nelson accomplished a top 30 finish as he bettered his PR and managed to be the sixth of eight Bulldog runners that completed in under 19 minutes.  Wyatt Hiltner placed 37th as he and Cade Stommes had worked hard to race together through the course.

 

 

In the JV race, the team accomplished a third place finish as four runners completed the race in under 19:30.  

 

Aaron Gregory and Nathan Zimmerman were near the front of the JV race for much of the course while Ethan Tobako started out a little more conservatively but picked up pace with each step in order to move up and place well in the race.  Gregory and Tobako finished in fifth and sixth place, crossing the finish line at 18:56.7 and 18:58.6 for the 5km. 

 

Zimmerman and David Myres were a little ways behind has they finished in 12th and 19th place with their season best times.  Bennett Edling also accomplished a season best with his time of 20:17.1.  

 

A pack of Bulldogs finished together next as Blake Soenneker, Adrian Johnson, Brock Ramola and Emery Olson crossed the line around 21:20.  The time was about a 20 second improvement for Olson’s PR.  

 

Keegan Murphy again saw a PR improvement as he competed for the final time this season which unfortunately included battling through injury.  Murphy PR’d by four seconds.  

 

A breakthrough race came for Junior Levi Tesmer as he bettered his PR by one minute and 18 seconds.  

 

 

In the junior high race, the Bulldogs earned the conference title as they scored 45 points.  

 

Bruce Kraemer,  Ryan Boecker and Isaac Bauer  finished in third, second, and fifth place respectively.  Owen Kolbinger also achieved a PR in his race as he crossed the line in 14th place.  Ben Howe was 21st and Landon Lahr was 35th.

 

Caleb Reckelberg, Bryce Berger and Hank Bjerga finished in 40th, 49th and 69th places.

 

“It’s hard to believe that this was the final race for some of these guys for the season,” said coach Dustin Weege.  “They have worked hard and certainly helped each other to be better in racing and in life.”

 

The top nine Bulldog harriers from the boys and girls teams are continuing to practice in preparation for the Section 8AA championship which is Thursday in Thief River Falls.  Qualifiers who advance go to the state meet at St Olaf Nov. 3.