BV runners carve out fourth-place team finishes at SFR Invite
By:
Jill Meier, Journal editor
It was a pair of third-place team finishes at Thursday’s Sioux Falls Roosevelt Invite for the Lynx boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams. And ironically so, Brandon Valley’s respective front runners both claimed fourth place individually.
BV coach Tony Thoreson said the Lynx ran the largely flat course at Yankton Trails to the best of their ability.
“We wanted to see where we fit in and what we would have to do in order to improve our chances of winning (conference meets and state),” Thoreson said. “It showed us a lot, showed us that we’re still in contention and still have time enough to do some more work.”
In the girls’ race, Mia Wentzy carved out a time of 18:30.76, and Britton Elkin stepped across the line at the 16-minute, 6-second mark.
A trio of Lady Lynx registered top-20 race times. Seventh-grader Addison Scholten registered a time of 10:01.25 for seventh place. She was followed by Gracyn Gruber and Sarah VanDeBerg. Gruber was 12th with a time of 19:16.61 and VanDeBerg clocked in at 19:46.14 to claim 20th.
Scholten has been a powerful addition to the Lady Lynx.
“I had heard some information on her, so we were hoping for good things,” Thoreson said. “I’ve been known to stop in at a few PE classes when they’re running the mile and realized how good she is. And there’s more in the works.”
Jeremiah Donahoe’s run of 16:55.86 earned him a 13th-place finish. Teammates Ben VanDeBerg and Paul Kern crossed the line in 17:00.11 and 17:33.35, respectively, to nab 24th and 33rd.
Thoreson said he continues to see improvement throughout the Lynx rosters.
“We still have kids who are improving and getting stronger and more confident with each race,” he said. “When we get into this stretch of the season … we have some serious racing to do.”
This Saturday, the Lady Lynx have their sights set on retaining their Eastern South Dakota Conference title, and the Lynx boys will take aim at improving on their 2019 runner-up finish. The meet will be run in Aberdeen.
“There will be some good racing there and we hope to be in the mix for the win for both boys and girls,” Thoreson said. “It’s one of those ‘any given day’ things.”
The Metro Conference championships are on tap for Oct. 15 at McHardy Park in Brandon with the races scheduled to step off at 3 p.m.
SF Roosevelt Invite
Yankton Trails – Oct. 1
Varsity girls team scores: 1.) O’Gorman 55; 2.) SF Lincoln 49; 3.) Brandon Valley 66; 4.) Aberdeen Central 93; 5.) Yankton 128; 6.) Brookings 179; 7.) SF Washington 186; 8.) Harrisburg 203; 9.) Pierre 212.
Lady Lynx results: 4.) Mia Wentzy 18:30.76; 7.) Addison Scholten 19:01.25; 12.) Gracyn Gruber 19:16.61; 20.) Sarah VanDeBerg 19:46.14; 23.) Haley Bergan 20:14.54; 24.) Natalie Moose 20:16.49; 25.) Kylie Foss 20:17.22; 47.) Chantel Bickler 21:15.22; 48.) Hannah Sprecher 21:17.13; 55.) Madison Pederson 21:42.28; 60.) Mallory Babb 21:58.62.
Varsity boys team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 45; 2.) Aberdeen Central 88; 3.) Brandon Valley 105; 4.) SF Roosevelt 118; 5.) SF Washington 124; 6.) Harrisburg 131; 7.) Pierre; 8.) Yankton 209; 9.) Brookings 213; 10.) O’Gorman 226; 11.) Huron 296; 12.) Mitchell 360;
Lynx boys’ results: 4.) Britton Elkin 16:06.03; 13.) Jeremiah Donahoe 16:55.86; 24.) Ben VanDeBerg 17:11.11; 33.) Paul Kern 17:33.35; 38.) Riley Peyton 17:41.11; 47.) Luke Kocer 17:51.12; 48.) Dakota Dutson 17:51.50; 523.) Cole Borchardt 18:01.75; 57.) Tyler Groen 18:05.65; 58.) Mikah Peters 18:07.63; 60.) Camden Coughlin 18:10.62; 70.) Colton Padgett 18:24.10; 71.) Gabe Anthony 18:24.31; 74.) Oliver Conlon 18:31.51; 76.) Aaron House 18:35.21; 85.) Dustin Groen 18:58.72.
Jr. Varsity girls
Lady Lynx results: 73.) Morgan Beck 32:12.59.
Jr. Varsity boys
Team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 16; 2.) Aberdeen Central 55; 3.) SF Roosevelt 91; 4.) Pierre 141; 5.) Harrisburg 147; 6.) SF Washington 173; 7.) Brandon Valley 175; 8.) Yankton 220; 9.) Mitchell 256; 10.) Brookings 279.
Lynx boys’ results: 24.) Jakson Santi 19:07.59; 51.) Josh Lee 19:53.16; 55.) Nathan Kruger 20:00.46; 60.) Kurtis MacArthur 20:11.51; 62.) Bergen Irey 20:12.83; 62.) Isaac Anderson 20:14.46; 74.) Michael Leidholt 20:34.85; 76.) Brian Schneider 20:38.05; 79.) Jack Scholten 20:42.60; 80.) Alex Kauffman 20:43.92; 88.) Tate Roberts 2103.87; 108.) Ryan Presler 22:06.02; 111.) Shawn Harris 22:17.83; 113.) Ben Barr 22:38.13; 117.) Isaiah Ehli 22:59.08; 127.) Matthew Beck 24:32.65; 131.) Saddler Elkin 24:40.44; 135.) Rylan Roberts 31:27.68.
