The Hornet Cross-Country team was back in action last Saturday morning competing on the trails around Bertram Park.  They also travelled to Annandale Tuesday.

Monticello Meet

“While it did warm up throughout the morning, the temperatures were cooler than we had at our last meet,” said Big Lake Head Coach Todd Trutna.  “We haven’t had a meet in over a week and a half, and our kids were ready for some competition.”  

While the meet only had seven teams, several of those teams are among the best in class AA.

Big Lake’s middle schoolers had their longest race distance of the year and continue to show improvement.  Alton Ahamed again led the boys with a third place finish.  Trent Erickson, Gavin Flavin, and Kale Westgaard also all finished in the top 15.  Peter Halvorson, Kaiden McLearen and Nick Erickson ran strong races, and their pace has really improved.  The middle school boys took second place as a team.  

For the girls, Brynn Scheer was 31st and Paiton Ganley was 35th.  

“These two continue to get stronger with each passing week,” said Trutna.  “The middle schoolers are headed in the right direction.”

In the JV race, Rylie Ostrom, Nicole Rempel, and Erin Kjellberg all finished in the top 30.  Big Lake’s JV girls are definitely running stronger and starting to push the varsity for the top seven spots.  Rylie Ostrom’s time of 27:15 moved her to varsity for Big Lake’s meet at Annandale next week.  

The boy’s JV placed third as a team and were led by Carter Erickson at 11th and Matthew Denzen at 16th.  Gavin Vold and Kevin Winkelman had fine races and both saw marked improvement from last meet.

The Hornet girls’ varsity squad had a bit of a let down at their home meet a few weeks back and ran a bit flat.  They responded this week in practice and ran more aggressively, Truna noted.  

“I was so proud of the determination they showed today on a much tougher course,” he said.  “All seven ran faster across the board.” 

Emilee Doperalski finished 13th in 22:47 to lead the Hornets.  Grace Heider led the rest of the scorers across the finish line, a group  that included  Jessica Schmidt,  Campbell Slattery, and Samanth Burton.  

For the third meet in a row, the boys’ varsity battled with rival Monticello.  

“We see a lot of Monticello and will compete against them again in the conference championship and section meet to advance to state,” said Trutna.  “Both teams are rated in the top 10 for class AA in the latest coaches poll.”  

In addition to that, Annandale, another top 10 team was also competing.  Trutna knew this meet would be an early test for the team.  

Senior Christian Noble was the first Hornet across the line in third place and was quickly followed by Owen and Kade Layton in fourth and fifth.  Jack Leuer also ran himself into the top 10 with a seventh place finish.  

“It was quite a battle individually,” said Trutna. “Realistically, the top seven or so from this race could be earning All-State honors come November.”  

David Guyse and Tanon Jacobson finished in a near tie for 24th/25th place.  In the end the team’s performance was just enough to top Monticello at their home invitational.  Big Lake beat Monticello 43-44 with Annadale taking third with 62.  

“We are definitely happy with all the results today, but our runners know that we are only a third of the way through the season and that we still have places to improve and other goals to reach,” said Trutna.

Annandale Invite

Even though the team had a meet just three days ago in Monticello, they still had many great performances on the rolling terrain of the Whispering Pines Golf Course.  

“As we approach the halfway point of the season, many of our runners are rounding into shape and gaining confidence,” said Trutna. “Historically, Annandale tends to be a slower course, but so many of our runners really went at it today.”

The boys’ varsity continued its winning ways by capturing another team title.  Owen Layton led the team with a second place finish and was quickly followed by Kade Layton in third and Christian Noble in fourth.  Big Lake’s top three continue to perform at an elite level.  

“This trio does such an impressive job as role models and leading the team at meets and practice,” said Trutna.  

Jack Leuer continues his impressive streak of races to finish sixth.  “

Jack’s running so well right now, it’s easy to forget he’s only a 9th grader,” said Big Lake’s coach.  

The trio of David Guyse, Tanon Jacobson, and Luke Hugo packed up for the first half of the race before Guyse moved ahead to place 12th.

The girls’ varsity had a top 10 finisher in Emilee Doperalski with her ninth place finish.  

“Emilee has been our top runner all season and has been getting back to her All-Conference form from a year ago,” said Trutna. “Some of the girls broke out of their normal packs today and really pushed themselves and their teammates.”

Grace Heider and Campbell Slattery ran close to each other for much of the meet and finished 23rd and 24th.  Jessica Schmidt and Sam Burton were the final two scorers for Big Lake, both finishing inside the top 30.  Rylie Ostrom and Olivia Potter were 30th and 31st.  

The JV girls’ team took third place as a team and was led by Erin Kjellberg’s seventh place finish.  

“Erin’s fitness has been getting better every week and her strong finish will earn her a varsity spot at the next invitational,” Trutna said. 

Jayden Rust, Nicole Rempel, Sophia Tienter, and Georgia Morris rounded out the rest of the top five.  

The JV boys’ team came away with the team championship scoring a near perfect score of 19 points.  Carter Erickson, coming off of an ankle injury, led the squad with a second place finish.  Matthew Denzen was third, Jacob Polacec sixth, Kevin Winkelman seventh, Aidel Cisneros ninth, and Oliver Aronson’s 10th.  

“The JV team by far had their most impressive outing of the season.”

Alton Ahemed took third place in the middle school race and paced the team to a second place team finish.  Gavin Flavin had his best race of the year and finished fourth.  Trent Erickson, Kale Westgaard, Peter Halvorson all finished in the top 20.  

“Nicholas Erickson and Kaiden McLearen raced well and get stronger every race,” Trutna said.  

Brynn Scheer was the first Hornet across the line in the middle school girls’ race.  Her 21st place finish was two places ahead of Paiton Ganley.  

“Overall it was an impressive day for our middle schoolers and all the Hornets,” said Big Lake’s head coach.

Up Next

The team’s next meet will be Saturday at the Milaca Mega-Meet, “The Largest High School Cross-Country Meet in the State.”