Lynx XC teams sweep O’Gorman Invitational
Jill Meier/BV Journal
Mikah Peters blazed through the 2.5-mile course at Pasley Park on Friday and was the first to step across the finish line in the boys’ varsity race.
Jill Meier/BV Journal
The varsity Lynx boys (below) bring their colorful running shoes together in the pre-meet team huddle.
Brandon Valley frontrunners Mia Wentzy and Addison Scholten led all runners from the start to the end of the 2.5-mile route at the O’Gorman Invite on Friday.
It was a clean sweep for the Lynx varsity cross country teams at the O’Gorman Invitational on Friday. And while Brandon Valley has had a long and successful history at this meet, head coach Tony Thoreson said, “You have to look at the whole big picture.”
“We have kids at other schools that are allowed to do more than one sport at a time, and that happened to be the case, where some kids chose to play soccer that day,” he said. “So, it’s not a real true comparison of everybody that’s available.”
The Lady Lynx had six runners place in the top 10, and were led senior Mia Wentzy and underclassman Addison Scholten, who went one, two. Also claiming a top 10 finish were Sara VanbDeBerg, Lily Rude, Shelby Bergan and Haley Bergan.
“The gap for them between first and fifth was 1:31, which is pretty good. but you have to realize when we get to the Twilight on Friday, 1:31 is a lot of kids,” Thoreson pointed out. “We’re going to keep working on thinning that down.”
The Lynx boys also paraded a number of its runners across the finish line, and were led by underclassman Mikah Peters, who won the individual title. A trio of other frontrunners – Paul Kern, Eli Woidyla and Camden Coughlin – also claimed a top 10 finish.
“The boys seem to be a little more acclimated to handling the weather right now, so they tend to run about what we expected,” Thoreson said. “Some of the kids that didn’t have that going on this summer are lagging behind a little bit, so we will be working on that.”
Overall, Thoreson was pleased with the effort he saw all levels of the Lynx give.
“I saw some really good things from the middle schoolers that we brought up to run varsity and JV, and I’m tickled with that. They didn’t fare as well on the team scale but I’m pleased with the kids who gave it their all.”
Brandon Valley competes in the large-scale Augustana Twilight this Friday at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls. It’s the first of four races the team will run there this season. ESD, Metro and state will all be run there.
“The whole key to that is knowing where you’re at and where your team is at … the better they learn that, the better we finish,” Thoreson said. “I just hope they don’t disgusted with it. I hope they get fired up for it, because it a fast course.”
O’Gorman Invite
Friday, Aug. 25, Pasley Park, Sioux Falls
Varsity girls team scores – 2.5 miles: 1.) Brandon Valley 19; 2.) Harrisburg 53; 3.) Watertown 68; 4.) Yankton 70.
Top 10: 1.) Mia Wentzy (BV) 14:58.89; 2.) Addison Scholten (BV)15:20.32; 3.) Grace McElroy (Wat) 15:42.83; 4.) Sarah VanDeBerg (BV) 15:45.73; 5.) Lilian Rude (BV)16:06.29; 6.) Addison Reilly (Harr) 16:13.39; 7.) Shelby Bergan (BV) 16:19.91; 8.) Hannah Genrich (Harr) 16:22.43; 9.) Kate McElroy (Wat) 16:28.63; 10.) Haley Bergan (BV) 16:31.60.
Other BV runners: 11.) Emma Tidemann, 16:40.55; 23.) Kendall Clayton, 18:14.96; 24.) Ellie Anders, 18:34.75; 25.) Morgan Becker, 20:27.45.
Varsity boys team scores – 2.5 miles: 1.) Brandon Valley 22; 2.) Watertown 46; 3.) Harrisburg 52.
Top 10: 1.) Mikah Peters (BV), 13:09.98; 2.) Evan Mahrous (O’G) 13:35.97; 3.) Jack Castelli (O’G) 13:49.92; 4.) Paul Kern (BV) 13:54.13; 5.) Ty Sullivan (Wat) 13:59.87; 6.) Griffin Smith (Harr) 14:00.31; 7.) Abe Chance (Yan) 14:07.15; 8.) Eli Woidyla (BV) 14:07.40; 9.) Camden Coughlin (BV) 14:10.11; 10.) Dominic Ripperda (O’G)14:17.03.
Other BV runners: 13.) Asher Selness, 14:41.24; 18.) Bergen Irey, 15:18.04; 19.) Logan Brakke, 15:18.52; 20.) Logan Brendsel, 15:23.86; 26.) Ryley McKeown, 16:07.21; 33.) Colton Padgett, 18:01.75
JV girls team scores – 2 miles: 1.) Harrisburg 23; 2.) O’Gorman 44; 3.) Yankton 78; 4.) Watertown 81; 5.) Brandon Valley 99.
Lady Lynx runners: 14.) Maggie Reekers, 15:12.07; 22.) Lillian Dirksen, 1553.71; 34.) Liana Wise, 16:34.14; 35.) Annika Henson, 16:46.43; 41.) Kamryn. Santi, 17:02.17; 42.) Tyann Balsdan, 17:10.67; 45.) Briana Reese, 17:20.94;54.) Elizabeth Holmquist, 18:38.74; 55.) Kayla Davis, 18:43.45; 56.) McKenzie Gjoraas, 18:500.04; 59.) Addison Timm, 19:46.55.
JV boys team scores – 2 miles: 1.) Yankton 42; 2.) O’gorman 46; 3.) Brandon Valley 48; 5.) Harrisburg 92; 5.) Watertown 97.
BV Lynx runners: 2.) Isaac Spahr, 11:51.72; 8.) Elias Michailidis, 12:16.22; 11.) Bradley Walden, 12:27.60; 13.) Otto Winters, 12:34.76; 14.) Chase Peterson, 12:37.04; 18.) Gavin Greenfield, 12:54.60; 21.) Vandon Engeltjes, 13:04.59; 22.) Tristan Culp, 13:05.90; 26.) Blake Engelsman, 13:32.21; 29.) Saddler Elkin, 13:37.55; 40.) Gabriel Sarges, 14:34.52; 41.) Lander Elkin, 14:44.88; 44.) Rylan Roberts, 15:43.63; 47.) Joey Tille, 16:25.10; 48.) Joe Kirkeby, 16:31.52; 49.) Tyler Hauck, 16:36.64; 54.) Mason Beck, 21:45.60.
