Bulldog runner Luke Lahr finished in seventh place at the Section 8AA cross country meet in Alexandria Thursday and qualified for state next weekend. He made the grade as the top two teams qualify and the next eight runners not on those two teams qualify also.

 

“He (Lahr) ran great and stayed with the top 10 the whole run, capping off a great high school career,” said Head Coach Trish Reimer-Kealy. “He really deserves this and has worked hard and was focused.”

 

The Becker boys team finished in 12th place, moving up one spot from last year. Alexandria took home first place (72 points) followed by Bemidji (77).

 

Becker’s Jonathan Novak was 66th with a time of 18:4.3. Caleb Foster was 72nd (10:05.4) - suffering with pain in the knees. Olsen Pancoast was 77th  (19:20.8), Sam Somrock 85th (19:43.9), Keith Sorensen 93rd (20:07.1) and Devin Winter 102nd (21:06.9).

 

“It was a beautiful day at Arrowwood resort and we are very proud of how far this group has come,” said Reimer-Kealy. “Even if the times might not reflect their best times, they raced well today.” 

 

The girls race was won by Willmar with 38 points, followed by Bemidji with 69 and Moorhead with 83. 

 

Becker was 10th with 278 points, an improvement from last year’s 12th place finish. There were 16 schools participating. 

 

“We were shooting for ninth, but didn't  quite get there,” said the head coach. 

 

The girls  ran well, led by freshman Alli Hendrickson, who placed 21st overall (15:42.8) and was just three spots out of a trip to the state meet. 

“She can be very proud of her efforts as we had three girls in the race who were ranked 1-2-3 in the individual pools at one time,” said Reimer-Kealy. 

 

Sydney Mastey finished 61st (16:57.8) in her last race as a Bulldog. 

 

“She has had a great career for Becker,” said Coach Reimer-Kealy. 

 

Lexi Dehmer finished 42nd (16:33.1), Tate Spinner 70th (17:14.4), Makenna Noaiell 84th (17:44.9), Jada Rositas  87th (17:58.9) and Ellie Schwartz 90th (18:06.6).

 

“It was a nice end to a good season for these girls who are very young and have learned a lot this year,” Reimer-Kealy said. “We are looking forward to next season!”

 

Lahr will run state at St. Olaf Sat., Nov. 1.