Cross country runners gearing up for season

Sariina Kalli
LoW School CC Coach

In cross country running Junior High Boys and Girls races are 3200 meters (2 miles), Varsity Girls races are 4000 meters (2.5 miles), Sophomore Boys and Girls races are 4000 meters (2.5 miles) and JV and Varsity Boys races are 5000 meters (3.1 miles).
A full team is made up of seven runners. The places of the top five runners on each team are added together to come up with the team score (Example: If runners place 4th, 11th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 30th, and 42nd, then the team score is 84).
Only 11 runners from last year’s team have returned for the 2004 season. We lost nine runners to graduation, two to another district, two more who decided not to come out this year, and one to a knee injury. To say it will be a rebuilding year is an understatement. We have new captains, nine new runners, and a whole new mix of ages and abilities.
Lake of the Woods is continuing its cooperative agreement with Rainy River this year. The Canadian roster has dropped to just five runners this season: veterans Shantelle Davidson, Jay Neilson, and Timo Brielmann, and newcomers Brenley Anderson and Andrew Friesen.
With that said, the team currently consists of 19 athletes with hopes of picking up a few more in September.
The depth of the girls‚ team has essentially been wiped out, so the opportunity for young runners to move up to varsity is certainly an option. Junior Shantelle Davidson, sophomore Madie Heinrich and 8th grader Jessie Buegler are the only veterans with varsity experience. Sophomore Aimee Sugden and 8th grader Karlie Eaton will vie for those four open slots with first-timers Jennifer Blodgett (10), Lacy Holen (9), Brenley Anderson (8), and Jennie Buegler (7).
Although the boys‚ team lost four of its top seven runners, the optimism for this year is better than ever. LoW has a solid group of returning runners in senior Chris Heinrich, junior Jay Neilson, sophomores Joe Cooper and Dylan Davis, and freshman Timo Brielmann. Add in the new talents of junior Tyler Ketchum (who’s doing double duty in cross country and football) and Canadian freshman Andrew Friesen, and the top seven looks quite strong. Seniors Andrew Cali and Zach Olson and 8th grader Taylor Poole ˆ all new to the sport - will add ability and promise to the team as well.
The season open our season in Roseau Thursday, Sept. 9, followed by Warroad on the 13th and Bagley on the 21st.