Scoular Wins First at Roncalli

The Milbank cross county runners rose to the challenge at the Roncalli Invitational held at Lee Park Golf Course in Aberdeen on Thursday, September 17. The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs brought home several top places and many good finishes.

Senior Jeter Scoular.stood out as he again won the men’s varsity 5,000-meter race. Scoular crossed the finish line at 17:07.41, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Caden Hourigan of Deuel, who took second place. Sophomore Ella Koplin was the highest scoring Lady Bulldog with her fourth-place finish in the varsity girls race. 

“The Roncalli Invite was a great opportunity to compete against most of the NEC and Region 1A schools,” said Eric Townsend, head coach for Milbank. “It was fun to experience a new course and see where we are against many of the schools that we will compete against later in the season.”  

Townsend also noted that junior Bianca Berry had her best race of the season. She was placed 15th overall in the girls varsity race.  “Bianca has been battling some injuries the past few weeks and hopefully she can continue to make progress on them.” Townsend said.  He also commended freshman Matthew Unzen for being the top Milbank finisher in the JV boys race. Unzen placed fourth  “As this season unfolds, it appears he will be looked upon to begin to make contributions to the varsity team,” Townsend predicted. Audrey Schmeichel was the third-place winner in the Girls JV race. She and three of her teammates took four of the top-six places to boost the girls into first place. The junior high girls secured third place as a team.

Boys Varsity 5,00-Meter Run

1. Jeter Scoular – 17:04.41
17. Franco Flores – 19:42.37
19. Beckham Berry – 19:48.18

Team Rankings

1. Deuel – 13
2. Northwestern -35
3. Aberdeen Roncalli -46
4. Great Plains Lutheran – 55
5. Webster Area – Webster – 86

Girls Varsity 5,000-Meter Run
4. Ella Koplin – 20:23.83
6. Macy Mueller – 20:59.07
15. Bianca Berry – 22:49.08
16. Paulo Culhuac Segundo – 23:18.90
21. Haylen Schneck – 25:27.54

Team Rankings

1. Roncalli – 22
2. Milbank – 26
3. Warner – 38
4. Deuel – 53

Boys JV – 4,000-Meter Run
4. Matt Unzen – 16:09.06
7. Finn Gilmore – 16:28.52
11. Justus Gortmaker – 17:09.62

Team Rankings

1. Warner
2. Sisseton
3. Webster Area
4. Great Plains Lutheran
5. Redfield

Girls JV – 4,000-Meter Run – Milbank took 1st Place as a Team
3. Audrey Schmeichel – 17:59.09
4. Kingsley Jensen – 18:07.04
5. Ainsley Brown – 18:18.30
6.Lennox Spors – 19:09.44
10. McKenzie Mueller – 20:01.05
14. Abril Ayala Ramirez – 22:55.39

Boys Jr. High – 3,000-Meter Run
7. Dylan Anaya Cruz – 12:04.33
11. Landon Athey – 12:33.26

Girls Jr. High – 3,000-Meter Run
11. Sophie Gruba – 14:09.20
14. Preslie Owen – 14:23.07
15. Quetzalli Culhuac Segundo – 14:25.90
25. Brooklyn Eckberg – 15:02.88
33. Fernando Hernandez Vasquez – 16:11.43
45. Kami Dashiell – 17:28.42

Team Rankings

1. Aberdeen Central – 17
2. Aberdeen Roncalli
3. Milbank – 48
4. Sisseton – 75
5. Groton – 80
6. Webster Area – 113

“Overall, I thought both teams ran pretty well and showed we should be in the mix for the NEC and region titles,” Townsend said.

The Bulldogs head to Grand Forks this Saturday, September 26, for the annual Border Battle.