Bulldog Cross Country Teams Heading to State

The MHS varsity boys’ cross country team won the Region 1A meet for the third consecutive year.  All six competitors placed in the top 18 and earned a medal.  Payton Brown was crowned the individual regional champion. The Lady Bulldogs were the runners-up this year, and they advance to the state meet. 

The Region 1A meet was held in Webster on Thursday, October 13. According to Townsend, although, the conditions in Webster were much tougher, the top-four girls posted faster times than a week ago. “The goal of this meet was to get both teams into the state meet, and we accomplished that goal,” he added. 

Townsend also noted, “The JV runners ran very good races to finish their seasons.  Seniors Ashlyn O’Farrell and Addie Farrell closed out their cross country careers with good races.” 

Varsity Boys 5K Junior Payton Brown took first place to win the Region 1A championship as an individual runner. He clocked in at 17:03.42. Kaleb Foeltz of Tri-State was second, and Ricky Berndt of Deuel was third. James Batchelor earned fourth place for the Bulldogs with his time of 18:11.72.  Bryan Meyer was fifth at 18:46.22. Isaac Graham took seventh place at 18:56.30. Beckham Berry finished at 19:21.95 for 14th place. Grant Van Peursem brought home 18th place at 19:47.70. Fifty-five runners competed.

The team standings included: (1) Milbank with an average of 18:14.42 (2) Deuel with an average of 19:02.58  (3) Aberdeen Roncalli with an average of 19:28.54 (4)Tri-State (5) Webster Area (6) Clark-Willow Lake (7) Great Plains Lutheran (8) Florence-Henry and (9) Groton Area.

Varsity Girls 5K Race Seventh-grader Bianca Berry was the first Lady Bulldog to finish. She posted a time of 21:34.50 to collect eighth place. Three Milbank runners were hot on her heels. Kylee Speidel at 21:43.12, Ellie Neugebauer at 21:43.99, and Maurina Street at 21:47.89. They received ninth,10th, and 11th place, respectively. Tyra Berry crossed the line at 22:19.06 to take 16th place. Stella Wendland took 26th place at 23:38.80.
Halle Bauer of Great Plains won the race at 19:42.60. Jaycee Hourigan of Deuel was second at 20:32.96. Forty-seven racers competed.

The team standings included: (1) Clark-Willow Lake with an average of 21:35.57  (2) Milbank with an average of 21:42.38 (3) Deuel with an average of 22:17.39 (4) Aberdeen Roncalli (5) Great Plains Lutheran (6) Florence-Henry (7) Webster Area and (8) Tri-State.

Boys JV 3K Liam Heller took first place for the Bulldogs, and Jack Howard came in at second place. Heller posted a time of 12:59.87. Howard followed close behind him at 13:08.72. Rylan Wendland came in next for the Milbank. He earned sixth place with his time of 13:55.41. Franco Flores took 25th place at 15:41.71.  Armando Chan was 31st at 17:18.71.

The team standings included: (1) Aberdeen Roncalli with an average of 13:51.19 (2) Milbank with an average of 13:56.43 (3) Deuel with an average of 14:39.75 (4) Great Plains Lutheran (5) Tri-State (6) Webster Area and (7) Groton Area

JV Girls 3K Avery Schuneman finished in second place for the Lady Bulldogs. She came in at 14:40.70, just behind Danielle Batchelor of Clark-Willow Lake, who won the race at 14:32.53.  Zayda Townsend captured fourth place for Milbank at 14:46.73. Elexia Quintanilla was fifth at 14:47.82. 

Macy Mueller took eighth place with her time of 15:43.79. Ava Sichmiller came in at ninth place at 15:47.31. Raina Untalan,10th at 16:00.67; Jaclyn Wiik,12th at 16:04.57; Yanderyn Olivares,14th at 16:10.82; Ashlynn O’Farrell, 16th at 16:19.62; Belle Pauli, 18th at16:30.67.

Sophia Gastineau earned 21st place with her time of 16:52.24. Camryn Sovell was 28th at 18:06.61. Addie Farrell, 30th at 18:29.34; Bree Townsend, 31st at 18:45.95; Reese Schuneman, 32nd at 19:21.35.

The team standings included: (1) Aberdeen Roncalli with an average of 13:51.19 (2) Milbank with an average of 13:56.43 (3) Deuel with an average of 14:39.75 (5) Tri-State (6) Webster Area and (7) Groton Area.

What’s next? Both teams will compete at South Dakota’s 2022 State Cross Country Meet on Saturday, October 22, in Huron. The Class A girls run at noon and the Class A boys run at 1:30 pm.  
Coach Townsend said he believes, “At the state meet next weekend, both teams will be in contention for a top-six finish.”