Brown, Batchelor, and Bulldogs Shine at Augie CC Twilight Meet

Augustana’s 12th Annual Twilight Meet was held.on September 1 in Sioux Falls. 

Eric Townsend, head coach of the Milbank cross country teams, said, “The Augie Twilight was a great opportunity for us to compete in a larger meet. There were quite a number of teams from all over the area including many AA schools.” Townsend also could have called it a mammoth or ginormous event. Milbank joined 5000 high school and NCAA Division I collegiate runners.

The Twilight, one of the largest races in the region, featured  schools from the familiar such as Lincoln, Jefferson, and Rapid City Central to Papillion la Vista and Creighton Prep from Nebraska, Lamars from Iowa, and  Woodbury from St. Paul. Runners, like moths in spikes, seem to be attracted to the event held under the lights. “The atmosphere was really neat,” Townsend commented,’”with music and lights as the sun set.”

But Milbank did not get lost in the crowd. “As a team, the boys varsity was the second Class A school behind Sioux Falls Christian,” Townsend said. Peyton Brown earned 18th place in the boys 5K run. He crossed the line at  16:25.58. The winner, Juan Gonzalez from Fremont clocked in at 15:10.15  

Bulldog James Batchelor took 57th place.(17:04.92). Bryan Meyer was in 147th place (18:04.17). Isaac Graham came in 162th (18:08.97). Liam Heller was 274th (19:12.11). Grant VanPeursum 376th (20:54.11) and Ryan Wendland  381st (21:01.04). Milbank was in the upper middle of the pack at 19th place in a field of 45 schools.

Ashlynn Batchelor brought home 16th place for Milbank in the girls 5K run. She clocked in at 19:25.95. The winner, Libby Castelli from O’Gorman, had a time of 17:31.11. Lady Bulldog Bianca Berry took 176th (22:17.67). Stella Wendland was 234th (23:01.54).  Tyra Berry came in at  252nd (23:22.37). Zayda Townsend 282nd (23:57.54). Milbank, as a team, took 26th place.

For the Milbank JV girls in their 3K race, Ella Koplin brought home 17th place in a field of over 350 runners. She recorded a time of 12:36.13. Nora Boetel of O’Gorman was the winner at 11:26.12.

Also for the girls JV team, Elexia Quantanilla landed in 69th place (13:32.10). At 103rd place, Aria Prasnicki had a time of 13:55.97. At 156th place, Bree Townsend (14:25.08) was just ahead of Macy Mueller. Mueller was 157th (14:25.26). Leah Meyer was180th ( 14:36.58). Bailee Hendricks was 210th (14:55.47). Raina Untalan was 215th (14:57.62).   Zoee Henrich 231st (15:05.54)  Jaclyn Wiik 235th (15:07.96). Yanderyn Olivares 279th  (16:01.01). Jazmynne Ronke t 288th (16:06.30). Sophia Gastineau 304th (16:25.26). Camryn Sovell 307th (16:29.40). Kylynn Schwandt 352nd (20:54.50). Milbank captured 14th place as a team.

For the Milbank boys JV team, Graham Bennett earned 41st place. He finishe at 10:50.42. The winner, Wesley Lyon of SF Christian crossed the line at 9:54.40. Bulldog Jose Fernandez was 193rd (11:38.38). Franco Flores took 371st place (13:44.09). Armando Chan 380th place (13:56.50) and Tate Pew 381st (13:56.89”. The Milbank boys JV team brought home 32nd place as a team.

What’s next for cross country?  MHS hosts the Milbank GrandStay Invitational at Whetstone Creek Golf Course on Saturday, September 9. The first race (7-8 grade) starts at 9:30 a.m. Varsity events start at 11 a.m. 

Submitted Photo