Sophmore girls place 10th at Swain Cross Country meet

Swain Invitational Cross Country Meet
Saturday, October 1, 2005 @ Enger Park, Duluth

7-8 Grade Girls (2600 meters)
Jennie Buegler, 46th, 12:43
Katie Laugtug, 51st, 12:49
91 Total Runners
No Team Score

7-8 Grade Boys (2600 meters)
Ryan Cooper, 157th, 14:52
167 Total Runners
No Team Score

Sophomore Girls (4000 meters)
Carla Johnson, 19th, 18:58
Jessie Buegler, 27th, 19:29
Brenley Anderson, 42nd, 20:09
Lacy Holen, 88th, 24:14
Chelsea Poolman, 95th, 24:14
106 Total Runners

Sophomore Girls Team Results
10th Lake of Woods-RR 217

JV Boys (5000 meters)
Jay Neilson, 15th, 20:14
Taylor Poole, 79th, 23:25
Brandon Knutson, 83rd, 23:46
109 Total Runners
No Team Score

Varsity Girls
Madie Heinrich, 34th, 17:28
Jennifer Blodgett, 181st, 22:38
196 Total Runners
No Team Score

Varsity Boys (5000 meters)
Andrew Friesen, 16th, 18:07
Vincent Scott, 84th, 19:35
Dylan Davis, 101st, 19:54
Joe Cooper, 121st, 20:26
Kyle Huerd, 140th, 20:56
Timo Brielmann, 149th, 21:33
Brendin Ketchum, 169th, 22:06
204 Total Runners

Varsity Boys Team Scores
1st Warroad 79
16th Lake of Woods-RR462

Coaches Comments
Boys
Freshman Taylor Poole was just 2 seconds off his best flat-course time, while sophomore Brandon Knutson was only 9 seconds off his best. Both are working especially hard in hopes of contributing to the success of the team.
If the varsity boys want to advance to the state cross country meet in November, they are going to have to run literally minutes faster than they did last Saturday (Oct. 1). Our 16th place finish out of thirty Class A teams is commendable on its own. However, when Section 8A teams Warroad and Perham place first and second at Swain, 16th place doesn’t look all that impressive for us.
Sophomore Andrew Friesen had a great race, placing 17th of 204 runners in the boys varsity race, and finishing 38 seconds faster than in 2004. The entire team, though, wasn’t running at full strength. Senior Tyler Ketchum chose his last Homecoming football game over the meet, and senior Jay Neilson ran the JV race after coming off a knee injury. Neilson was off his 2004 Swain time, but his 20:14 finish would have put him fourth on our varsity team.
Both Warroad and Perham had their top 5 runners in under 19 minutes for the 5000-meter race, while our fifth runner crossed the line in nearly 21 minutes. That‚s not going to get it done.
I know our boys are capable of competing with these teams because last year’s end-of-the-season meet times prove it. It’s now just a matter of getting them fired up to win and the team putting in the effort to improve over the next four weeks.

Girls
Sophomore Carla Johnson flew through her 4000-meter race with a 25-second PR of 18:58 in the sophomore race. This is an incredible feat, considering the hills and heat the runners had to endure all day. Junior Madie Heinrich and freshman Brenley Anderson ran their second fastest times of the season, and two girls ran a minute or more faster this year than last.
I split nine girls between three races at Swain, each running in their age-appropriate event. Jennie Buegler and Katie Laugtug breezed through the junior high race and feel confident enough to jump up to JV/Varsity in the next couple of meets. As Lacy Holen, Chelsea Poolman, and Karlie Eaton are battling shin splits and other potential lower-leg problems, the addition of these enthusiastic eighth graders may come at the perfect time. Freshman Jessie Buegler is also back, adding to the strength of our top seven.
–Sariina Kalli,
Coach