Milbank Cross Country Teams Advance to State This Weekend

The MHS girls varsity team placed second at the Region 1A cross country meet and  qualified for State for the 13th season in a row. The boys varsity team placed third in a super close team race to qualify for State for the eighth consecutive season. The State A meet is coming up in Rapid City this Saturday, October 26. Class A Girls run at 12:30 p.m. (MST) and Class A boys start at 2  p.m. (MST). Both teams will be competing for a top-six team finish and the top-25 individual medals.  

At the Region 1A meet on Wednesday, October 16, at the  Webster Golf Course, four girls earned top 20 medals: Ella Koplin  (4th), Bianca Berry  (5th), Macy Mueller  (13th), and Zayda Townsend (20th). Eric Townsend, head coach for Milbank, said, “The girls team as a whole ran better than they had a week earlier at the NEC meet. All four of these girls improved their times on this same course from a week ago. He also singled out Koplin’s performance. “Ella improved her time on the same course from a week ago by 41 seconds and was 18 seconds faster than a year ago at the region meet on the same course. Ella has continued to improve throughout this season and appears to be running her best at the right time.”

Four boys also earned top-20 medals: Jeter Scoular (4th), Bryan Meyer (5th), Beckham Berry  (9th), and Franco Flores (18th). “Beckham had one of his best races of the season at the Region 1A meet in Webster last week,” Coach Townsend said. “ He was the third Milbank finisher and finished ninth overall. Beckham improved his time from last week on the same course by 48 seconds.“

“The JV runners finished out their season very strong with multiple top-15 individual awards,” noted Coach Townsend.  Milbank girls took six of the top seven places. Susie Schuneman, Haylen Schneck, and Timbree Spors notched the top-three places respectively. Mackenzie Mueller, Paola Culhuac Segundo, and Sophia Bass were fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively.  Armando Chan was the top runner for the JV Bulldogs. He earned third place. Jefferson Ordonez was next in seventh place. 

“Overall, both teams ran pretty well, and I am proud of how we competed and battled,” Coach Townsend stated. “ We were fortunate enough again to qualify both teams to the state meet and now hopefully we can finish out our season strong at the state meet.”  

Results from the Region 1A Meet
Varsity Girls — 5,000 Meters
Team Standings:

1. Clark-Willow Lake –25
2. Milbank –37
3. Deuel –45
4. Aberdeen Roncalli –74
5. Florence-Henry –77
6. Great Plains Lutheran –89
7. Redfield –114
8. Tri-State –133

Individual Times:
Senior Jaycee Hourigan of Deuel took first p;ace with her time of 20:28.96. Milbank eighth-grader Ella Koplin was fourth at 20:52.41. Freshman Bianca Berry was right behind her in fifth place at 20:54.04. Sophomore Macy Mueller came in 13th at 21:48.22. Sophomore Zayda Townsend took 20th at 22:58.73. Seventh grader Tabitha McFaden crossed the line at 23:37.49 for 24th place. Aria Prasicki, an eighth grader, came in 50th at 27:41.88.

Varsity Boys — 5,000 Meters 
Team Standings:

1. Great Plains Lutheran –28
2. Deuel –29
3. Milbank –30
4. Florence-Henry –67
5. Clark- Willow Lake –109
6. Webster Area –109
7. Aberdeen Roncalli –110
8. Tri-State –110

Individual Times:
Sophomore Ryder Graff of Sisseton won the race at 18:00.96. Milbank’s Jeter Scoular was fourth at 18:35.48. Senior Bryan Meyer was hot on his heels for fifth at 18:48.09. Sophomore Beckham Berry was ninth at 19:27.68. Freshman Franco Flores was 18th at 19:59.48. Freshman Rylan Wendland took 27th at 20:56.47. Sophomore Bennett Graham crossed the line at 21:40.25 to take 32nd place. 

JV Girls 3,000 Meters
Team Standings:

1. Milbank –10
2. Sisseton –34

Individual Times:
Milbank seventh-grader Susie Schuneman took first place at 14:59.15. Seventh grader Haylen Schneck was second at 15:02.07. Timbree Spors, also a seventh grader, was third at 15:11.32. Freshman Mackenzie Mueller was fifth at 15:30.60. Seventh grader Paola Culhuac Segundo came in sixth at 15:34.52. Sophia Bass, a seventh grader,  was seventh at 15:36.92. Seventh grader Madelyn Van Lith crossed the line at 16:17.79 to earn 11th place. Seventh grader Nuria Rodriguez Duron took 13th at 16:47.40. Junior Camryn Sovell was 22nd at 17:47.96. 

JV Boys 3,000 Meters
Team Standings:

1. Great Plains Lutheran –16
2. Deuel –31
3. Milbank –39

Individual Times:
Senior Seth Grams of Great Plains Lutheran won the race at 13:05.27. Milbank freshman Armando Chan was third at 13:21.78. Seventh grader Jefferson Ordonez took seventh at 14:13.08. Matthew Unzen, a seventh grader, came in 23rd at 15:55.90. Seventh grader Justus Gortmaker took 25th place at 16:08.04. Eighth grader Levi Street was 29th at 18:40.13. Seventh grader Gunnar Anderson secured 30th place at 19:27.73.

Submitted Photos: Top- left to right, Zayda Townsend, Aria Prasnicki, Macy Mueller, Ella Koplin,
Ashlynn Batchelor, Bianca Berry and Tabitha McFaden. Bottom- left to right, Jeter Scoular, Bryan Meyer, Franco Flores, Liam Heller, Beckham Berry, Bennett Graham, Rylan Wendland and Harley Zemlicka.