Wentzy sets new course record at home invite

She may be petite in stature, but Lady Lynx Mia Wentzy left big paw prints in a record-setting performance at Saturday’s Lynx Invitational. The Brandon Valley freshman’s 19:36.45 run constituted a change to the local record books, as she set a new record for the McHardy Park course.

 

“It’s something that Mia had talked about and thought she might have a chance of getting it and we thought she had a pretty good chance of getting it,” Lynx head coach Tony Thoreson said. 

 

With three opportunities to do so this season – Saturday being the second – Thoreson said Saturday’s race was the perfect time for the Lady Lynx frontrunner to go after the record.

 

“We told her she would have to get after it because she would be by herself, and she was. Even though she was ahead handily, several other coaches who knew what she wanted to do, were cheering her on,” Thoreson said.

 

Thoreson said the McHardy Park – known for its signature hill and numerous turns – is typically 45 to 50 seconds slower than the more traditional flat courses with fewer turns.

 

“She got after it from the get go and kept pushing it the entire time,” he said of Wentzy, who snatched the record established by Courtney Klatt in 2015.

 

As a team, the Lady Lynx were the clear winners behind their 17-point team tally. Runner-up Yankton finished with 31 points and West Central had 54 points. Garretson did not field a complete team.

 

Wentzy’s record-setting run was complimented by six others who placed in the top 10 and were rewarded with medals. Gracyn Gruber and Addison Scholten were the second and third runners to cross the finish line. Gruber clocked in at 20:07 and Scholten stepped across in 20:13. Sarah VanDeBerg (fifth, 20:50), Natalie Moose (seventh, 21:01), Haley Bergan (eighth, 21:17) and Kylie Foss (10th, 21:24) closed out the top 10.

 

“Our gap wasn’t quite as close as it was the week before,” Thoreson said, noting the 1-minute, 25-second difference between the first and fifth runners.

 

The Lynx boys raced to a second-place finish behind Sioux Falls Roosevelt, a top-five team, according to Thoreson.

 

Missing from Saturday’s lineup was frontrunner Britton Elkin, who is out for yet another week due to close contact quarantine.

 

In Elkin’s absence, Lynx junior Jeremiah Donahoe stepped into his role and was the first to parade across the finish line. Donahoe registered a time of 17:33, and was followed by fellow junior Ben VanDeBerg, who placed fifth behind his 17:54 race time. Riley Peyton was the third Lynx to claim a medal. His 18:32 landed him in 10th.

 

“Jeremiah did his part with Britton being out,” the coach said.

 

Saturday was VanDeBerg’s first race back after he was sidelined by the “close contact quarantine bug,” Thoreson said.

 

“He was very enthused and got right back after it, but fell of a little bit,” Thoreson said.

 

BV’s middle school girls also scored a first-place team prize.

 

“I was really happy overall,” Thoreson said. “We gave medals to the top 10 in each category, and by golly, when I picked up our packet, it was pretty heavy. I counted 17 on the girls’ side  and 10 on the boys’ side.”

 

The Lynx compete next  in the estimated 20-team Huron Invite Saturday. Leading up to Saturday’s race, Thoreson said the Lynx runners will continue to work running in a pack.

 

“In a big meet like that, if you get too much time between your first and fifth runners, it can make a big difference (in team score),” Thoreson said.

 

The race steps off at 9 a.m.

 

Lynx Invite

Varsity Girls Team Scores: 1.) Brandon Valley 17; 2.) Yankton 31; 3.) West Central 54.

Lady Lynx Varsity Results: 1.) Mia Wentzy 19:36.45; 2.) Gracyn Gruber 20:07.74; 3.) Addison Scholten 20:13.19; 5.) Sarah VanDeBerg 20:50.78; 7.) Natalie Moose 21:01.18; 8.) Haley Bergan 21:17.24; 10.) Kylie Foss 21:24.04; 15.) Chantel Bickler 22:30.66; 18.) Hannah Sprecher 21:15.04; 19.) Mallory Babb 23:28.57.

 

Varsity Boys Team Scores: 1.) SF Roosevelt 19; 2.) Brandon Valley 28; 3.) Yankton 38; 4.) West Central 74.

Varsity Lynx Boys Results: 1.) Jeremiah Donahoe 17:33.50; 5.) Ben VanDeBerg 17:54.91; 10.) Riley Peyton 18:32.85; 12.) Cole Borchardt 18:47.15; 17.) Tyler Groen 19:20.99; 18.) Dakota Dutson 19:21.61; 20.) Aaron House 19:40.05; 21.) Gabe Anthony 19:42.70; 22.) Oliver Conlon 19:43.23; 25.) Luke Kocer 20:00.72; 28.) Dustin Groen 21:40.28.

 

Jr. Varsity Girls Team Scores: 1.) SF Roosevelt 16; 2.) Yankton 36; 3.) Brandon Valley 36.

Jr. Varsity Lady Lynx Results: 2.) Lillian Sprecher 17:44.47; 6.) Madison Pederson 18:06.54; 13.) Rachel Spencer 19:28.50; 21.) Morgan Beck 26:06.19.

 

Jr. Varsity Boys Team Scores: 1.) SF Roosevelt 13; 2.) Brandon Valley 24; 3.) Yankton 60; 4.) West Central 78; 

Jr. Varsity Lynx Boys Results: 4.) Paul Kern 14:59.80; 5.) Mikah Peters 15:06.60; 6.) Camden Coughlin 15:14.35; 9.) Colton Padgett 15:32.48; 10.) Jakson Santi 15:35.38; 13.) Bergen Irey 15:50.15; 18.) Josh Lee 16:15.60; 21.) Tate Roberts 16:30.13; 22.) Isaac Anderson 16:34.11; 23.) Michael Leidholt 16:40.22; 24.) Brian Schneider 16:40.32; 25.) Alex Kauffman 16:40.85; 26.) Jack Scholten 16:53.55; 27.) Kurtis MacArthur 17:08.36; 28.) Nathan Kruger 17:09.41; 35.) Brady Tidemann 17:47.69; 40.) Ben Barr 18:56.68; 43.) Matthew Beck 19:35.34; 44.) Isaiah Ehli 19:42.71; 49.) Dane Petersen 23:03.43; 50.) Rylan Roberts 23:58.54.

 

Middle School Girls Team Scores: 1.) Brandon Valley 16; 2.) West Central 24.

Lady Lynx Middle School Results: 1.) Lillian Rude 13:35.18; 4.) Maggie Reekers 14:25.84; 5.) Madeline Plumbtree 14:35.00; 6.) Kaelynn Kranzler 15:09.81; 7.) Samantha Morris 15:10.85; 10.) Lillian Dirksen 15:24.65; 11.) Cadence Freitag 15:28.38; 13.) Jorja Olson 16:17.00; 14.) Melanie Tsymbalist 16:23.54; 15.) Reese Weerheim 16:25.41; 16.) Brianna Deblieck 16:26.88; 17.) McKenzie Gjoraas 16:31.33; 18.) Mia Schmidt 16:46.61; 19.) McKenzie Ehli 17:09.85; 22.) AshLynn Shotkoski 17:35.06; 24.) Zurie Petersen 18:14.32; 25.) Elizabeth Hoffman 18:20.58; 27.) Malaysia Tweet 19:21.24; 28.) Alexandria Klepsteen 25.31.20.

 

Middle School Boys Team Scores: 1.) Yankton 16; 2.) West Central 29; 3.) Brandon Valley 33.

Lynx Middle School Boys Results: 2.) Eli Woidyla 12:36.58; 9.) Logan Brakke 13:06.08; 12.) Ryley McKeown 13:39.89; 13.) Vandon Engeltjes 13:54.30; 15.) Archer Johnson 14:06.27; 16.) Elia Michailidis 14:08.98; 22.) Camron Bailous 14:55.46; 25.) Joe Tille 15:25.74; 26.) Aaron Soroka 15:38.74; 28.) Logan Magnus 16:16.18; 29.) 

Dante Toole 16:18.12; 30.) Blake Engelsman 16:30.05; 32.) Hudson Caldwell 18:38.48; 33.) Cael Weber 20:17.20; 34.) Kasey Friemuth 22:18.26.