In the week after hosting the 5AA meet at the beautiful Pebble Creek Local 9, the Bulldogs boys cross country team continued to stay rather busy.
Training continued as Mason Becker, Tyson Ricker, and the girls team prepared for the MSHSL State Championship meet and the Bulldogs also celebrated their seasons with a shared awards night for the teams (check back next week for information from the awards night).
MSHSL State Meet
Two of the Becker boys traveled to St. Olaf to represent the Bulldogs in the MSHSL State Cross Country Championship meet. This was the first time for these guys and it was an adventure as the race is filled with many strong runners.
The course for the state meet has been at St. Olaf College in Northfield, since the early 1990’s and it has been filled with lots of different types of weather. The conditions on Nov. 6 though were gorgeous compared to some past years. Having the temperature in the 60s and the sun shining made for a beautiful day, which was fortunate as this was the first time that the MSHSL had tried the new time schedule to accommodate the new Three-class-system for cross country. The League had agreed to add a third class which meant two more races (one for boys and one for girls) had to be added into the time schedule.
As a result, the AA boys race time was pushed back to a 2:30 p.m. start. This meant that the Becker guys had to manage their energy appropriately throughout the day in order to have great performances to cap off their seasons.
The pageantry of the state meet fortunately did not phase the Bulldogs as they were well prepared for the day and focused on the things they had control over, primarily their attitudes. When the gun went off the field of 160 runners burst forward in a mad dash for the first corner of the course. Ricker and Becker managed well as they worked to start out a little more conservatively for the first mile. Mason was in 73rd place at the mile mark while Tyson was up ahead in 54th with his 5:17 split.
After the mile mark of the course, the runners returned to traverse through a large crowd of spectators. While the field was still packed, Tyson and Mason both worked to kick into action and catch opponents during the next segment. Mason caught nine runners in the next mile as Tyson passed 30 guys.
In the third segment of the race, the Becker runners found their next gear and charged toward the finish line. Tyson managed to catch seven more runners in that segment while Mason caught five. Mason ran a fast time of 17:35.46 and finished the day in 59th place. Mason’s time was about four seconds off of his PR time, but great considering the congested field and hilly conditions. Tyson Ricker managed to shave off about eight seconds of time for his PR performance at the meet and placed 17th. Tyson’s time of 16:39.98 earned him All-State status which makes him the first All-State cross country boy runner since moving to the class AA. His time also places Tyson in the record books as it is the top time ever recorded for a Becker runner at the state cross country meet and the second fastest legitimate 5km race time of Bulldog history.
After the boys raced, they navigated their way through the crowd to find family and friends to celebrate with.
“It was so fun to see the following of folks that made the drive to St. Olaf to celebrate with the guys and knowing that a number of people were also tuned in on the livestream,” said coach Weege.
Shortly then after their race, the Becker boys gathered their gear and prepared to move around the course again to cheer for the girls team as they competed in the state championship as a team.
There was a lot to celebrate for the Bulldogs and they look forward to continuing to reflect on the season while preparing for their next adventures with other winter, spring, and summer activities. The Bulldogs will look to return next season in great shape and will be looking forward to once again running the race with endurance.
