The Becker girls cross country team held their awards potluck to celebrate their successful season. They gathered in the High School commons area and enjoyed recognizing their team.
There were 17 letterwinners: Bella Duncombe, Kayla Gruenes, Regan Hausmann, Brooklyn Karel, Raegan Leaders, Meghan Swanson, Emilia Hansen,Olivia Babler, Tasha Berthiaume, Alea Briggs, Lexi Rose, Ella McDonald, Natalie Trenz, Katelyn Brower, Raelee Lyon, Sophia Malisheski and Adele Changamire.
Participation certificates went to Naiya Hanson, Alyssa Brower, Aria Deidrick, Abby Frey, Laney Hodel, Myka Maksimenko, Kendall Olson, Ava Scheiber, Lillee Stevens, Lorelei Swanson and Charlie Dirks.
The team’s academic awards include the Mississippi 8 Conference team Gold Award and the MSHSCA team Gold Award. The Bulldogs had eight individual academic all conference winners: Regan Hausmann, Kayla Gruemes, Brooklyn Karel, Tasha Berthiaume, Alea Briggs, Lexi Rose, Natalie Trenz and Emilia Hansen.
Academic All State went to Lexi Rose and Alea Briggs.
Becker’s Scholar Athlete award went to Kayla Gruenes and Lexi Rose.
Individual awards went to: Most Valuable - Adele Changamire, Most Dedicated - Lexi Rose, Most Improved - Alea Briggs, Rookie - Ava Scheiber. Bulldog Spirit Awards went to Kayla Gruenes, Bella Duncombe, and Ella McDonald.
The Bulldogs retained the Mississippi 8 Conference title for both varsity and JV.
Becker’s six all-conference award winners: Adele Changamire, Lexi Rose, Ella McDonald, Olivia Babler, Alea Briggs, and Brooklyn Karel. Honorable Mention went to Bella Duncombe.
Becker also retained the title for the Section 5AA Championship and earned a trip back to the state meet. Becker’s top five runners finished in the top 15 and numbers six and seven were 16th and 24th.
At the state meet held at St Olaf College in Northfield, the girls had a great day and placed fourth overall. Adele Changamire earned all state honors with her 12th place finish and all the girls ran well.
The Bulldogs are graduating six seniors: Bella Duncombe, Kayla Gruenes, Regan Hausmann, Brooklyn Karel, Raegan Leaders and Meghan Swanson.
“These girls have provided much leadership in all their years of cross country and we will miss them in the future and wish them all the best,” said Head Coach Trish Kealy.
“We need to send out appreciation for all the support we have received this year. Our parents and the activities department and the newspaper have all been great! I want to give a shoutout to my first year assistant, Camille Kantor, for all of her help and to Dustin Weege and Patrick Drury for their support as well. We appreciate all that was done for us and are really looking forward to our season next fall.”
Nike Heartland Race
In final competition, the girls participated in the Nike Heartland cross country race that was held in Sioux Falls this past Sunday, There are several states involved in this regional meet including: Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.
The girls ran in the girls open event which consisted of three separate races which were then combined for a total score.
There were 979 total finishers in the race and 108 teams. Becker placed fifth overall as a team.
The girls ran some very good times - Lexi Rose placed 23rd (19:16.9) Ella McDonald 33rd (19:32.5), Olivia Babler 101st (20:01.5), Alea Briggs 163rd (20:28.4), Bella Duncombe 222nd (29:51.8), Brooklyn Karel 269th (21:11.4),Tasha Berthiaume 419th (22:01.5), and Natalie Trenz 447th (22;14.6).
Tyson Ricker and Evan Hubbard ran in the boys open race with Tyson placing 11th overall with the outstanding time of 15:56.5 and Evan ran 18:44.0.for 813th out of 1582 runners.
“An exciting finish to our season at this fun meet and the kids and their parents all had a great (if cold) time,” said Kealy.
