The Milbank Bulldog cross country runner have set their sights high as the season gets underway. “Our goals are to win the Northeast Conference... Bulldog Runners Set Their Sights High

The Milbank Bulldog cross country runner have set their sights high as the season gets underway. “Our goals are to win the Northeast Conference and Region 1A titles and improve on our state finishes last season,” said head coach Eric Townsend, who is in his 19th season at the helm.

The girls’ team returns five of the top six runners from a year ago. “The strength for the girls will be their depth,” noted Townsend. “Their weakness will be the lack of a top runner.” Seniors leading the girls’ team are Tori Hooth and Danica Schulte. They also return juniors Amaya Street and Allison Leddy; sophomore Maiah Brown; freshmen Maurina Street and Ashlyn O’Farrell, and eighth grader Kynlee Speidel.

The boys’ team strength is experience and their main weakness is a lack of depth. “We return the top three runners and four out of the top five from a year ago,” said Townsend. Seniors leading the boys’ team are Zippy Bock, Alex Farrell, and Brady Femling. Other returning letter winners are sophomore Nick Batchelor and his brother, James
Batchelor, an eighth grader.

Rounding out the girls’ team are juniors Lindsey Mertens and Greta Snaza, sophomores Marion Mischel, Savanna Osowski, and Emily VanHoorn; freshmen Addie Farrell, Ellie Neugebauer, and Julia Wiik; eighth graders Addy Hoke, Kaitlyn Krause, Nadia Thue, and Stella Wendland, and seventh graders Tyra Berry, Rylee Scoular, and Ashlee Van Hoorn.

Additional runners for the boys’ team are sophomores Cade Howard and Will Karels; freshmen Noah Garcia and Morgan McConnell; eighth graders Isaac Graham and Grant Van Peursem, and seventh graders Sebastian Hooth, Bryan Meyer, and Ryan O’Farrell.

Milbank hosts the Breathe Easy meet on Friday, August 30, to start the season.
The meet begins at 4 p.m. at the Whetstone Creek Golf Course.

The 2019 Cross Country Schedule:
September 5 – Redfield Invite – 10 a.m.
September 14 – Milbank Hardee’s Invite – 9:30 a.m.
September 17 – LQPV Invite – 4:30 p.m.
September 23 – Ortonville Invite – 4 p.m.
September 28 – Roy Griak – University of Minnesota, Minneapolis – TBA
October 3 – Lenkota Invite – Lennox – 4 p.m.
October 5 – Wheaton Invite (Junior high and JV only) – 10 a.m.
October 10 – NEC meet at Webster – 4 p.m.
October 17 – Region 1A meet at Webster – 3:30 p.m.
October 26 – State Meet at Huron – TBA

Photo – courtesy of VPD Studio

Staff Writer

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