Locals do well at U.S. cross country

Submittee by
Coach Sariina Kalli

Lake of the Woods School has a cooperative agreement with Rainy River this year, as they did with the Track and Field program last spring. They have four Canadian runners on the team this year: Shauna McInerney, Shantelle Davidson, Matt Neilson, and Jay Neilson.

Lake of the Woods got off to a great start last Thursday, September 6th, in Roseau. Since sophomore Tyler Bredeson was the only athlete to have run a meet before, I chose to run the boys’ team in the Junior Varsity race to give them all a taste of team competition. This philosophy paid off, as they won the Junior Varsity Boys race with a team score of 41 points. Warroad places second with 53 points, while Thief River Falls placed third with 58.

Bredeson led the team with a 4th place finish in 19 minutes, 16 seconds, over the 5000 meter course. Garrett Ravndalen placed 5th, Matt Neilson 8th, exchange student Sebastian Meyer 11th, Jordan Block 13th, Erik Tharalson 16th and Seth Stennes 24th.

Eighth grader Jay Neilson was the only Lake of the Woods athlete to run in the Junior High Boys race. He placed 13th in the 3200 meter course, with a time of 13 minutes, 6 seconds.

Junior Sheila Johnson led the girls’ team to a third place finish in the Varsity Girls race by placing 7th with a personal best time of 16 minutes, 23 seconds. Elyse Dornrhecker placed 16th, Jessy Olsen 18th, Lindsey Laugtug 21st, Maria Anderson 27th, Annie Gubbles 28th, and Elaina Hansen 29th. East Grand Forks took the team title with a mere 20 points. Warroad placed second with 65 and Lake of the Woods posted 89.

Senior Shauna McInerney is currently dividing her time between basketball in Rainy River and Cross Country in Lake of the Woods. We hope to have her with us on a more consistent basis soon. Eight grader Shantelle Davidson is temporarily out of competition with heel injury. Both athletes should help add depth to the girls’ team.

Coach Sariina Kalli was very pleased with the results of this first meet.

The boys surprised themselves with a team victory and nearly all runners, boys and girls, achieved personal best times. They now know what it takes to race and to win, and their spirits are high heading into the rest of the season.

Upcoming Meets

Warroad, September 10th

Grand Rapids, September 13th

Bagley, September 18th