Payton Brown Wins Championship at GrandStay CC Invite

The MHS cross country teams hosted the Milbank GrandStay Invitational on Saturday, September 10, at the Whetstone Creek Golf Course.  Eric Townsend, head coach for MHS, said, “It was a great opportunity to run at home. The meet featured 16 schools from three states — South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota. It was fun to have a big meet at home.”  
Both the Bulldogs and the Lady Bulldogs took home the GrandStay team titles for the first time in several years. Individually, Payton Brown earned the championship in the varsity boys race. 

Townsend singled out two runners. “Sophomore Tyra Berry had her best race of the season  She was the second Milbank finisher and placed 11th overall. Liam Heller, an eighth grader, ran in his second varsity race ever, and was the fourth Milbank finisher.” Heller placed 15th overall. “Liam has emerged as one of the younger runners who is making a big impact on this year’s varsity team,” Townsend said.

In the boys’ 5K varsity race, The top seven teams included: (1) Milbank with 34 points  (2) Lac qui Parle Valley-Dawson with 61 points (3) Minnewaska with 72 points (4) Flandreau with 76 points (5) Wahpeton-Breckenridge with 89 points  (6) Montevideo with 94 points and (7) Madison with 103 points.

Milbank’s Payton Brown earned first place with his time of, 16:12.81. Kaleb Foltz of Tri-State took second at 16.31.24, and Maeson Tank of Minnewaska was third at 16:44.47. Bulldog James Batchelor claimed fifth place at 16:55.18. Bryan Meyer came in at 13th at 17:54.45; Liam Heller was 15th at 17:57.01. Isaac Graham took 20th place at 18:20.87. Grant Van Peursem was 28th at18:54.23. Berry Beckham came across in 29th place at 19:04.02.

In the girls’ 5K varsity race, the top seven teams included: (1) Milbank with 35 points (2) Minnewaska with 44 points (3) Flandreau with 52 points (4) Great Plains Lutheran with 66 points (5) Lac qui Parle Valley-Dawson with 78 points (6) Wahpeton Breckenridge with 90 points, and (7) Madison with 103 points.

Milbank’s Ashlynn Batchelor was the third runner to cross the finish line. She came in at 19:23.11 just behind Faith Wiese of Flandreau and Halle Bauer of Great Plains. Tyra Berry claimed 11th place at 21:05.37.  Bianca Berry (21:12.74), Maurina Street (21:13.08), Kynlee Speidel (21:22.31), and Ellie Neugebauer (21:27.62) took 13th through 16th places, respectively. Stella Wendland came in at 27th place at 22:23.79. Ashlyn O’Farrell was 40th and in at 24:38.68.

Boys JV
Jose Hernandez was the top JV finisher for the Milbank boys in their 4K run. He claimed third place at 16:06.84. Fellow Bulldog Jack Howard came across the line at 16:49.82 for 11th place.

Girls JV Avery Schuneman took second place for the Lady Bulldogs at 18:09.90 in the girls JV 4K run. Zayda Townsend, Jaiden Tillotsen, and Elexia Quintanilla took fourth through sixth places, respectively. Macy Mueller was eighth. Sophis Gastineau was 15th; Jaclyn Wiik, 19th. Yanderyn Olivares, 22nd;  Addie Farrell, 26th; Camryn Sovell, 35th; and Nadia Thue, 38th.

Boys – 7th and 8th Grade  Rylan Wendland had a third-place finish for Milbank in the 3K run. Franco Flores came in at 15th. Armando Chan stepped over the line in 29th place.
Girls – 7th and 8th Grade In the girls 3K run, Raina Untalan took seventh place for the Lady Bulldogs. Ava Sichmeller was in at 15th, Bree Townsend came in at 27th, and Reese Schuneman crossed the line in time for 31st place.
What’s next for the Bulldogs? Bulldog cross country teams traveled to the Charger Invitational in Sioux Falls today, Tuesday, September 13.