Ashlynn Batchelor is 4th Class A Runner to Finish Augustana Twilight Meet

The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs ran in the 5000-meter Augustana Twilight cross country meet at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls on Friday, August 2. Both teams ended up in the middle to top half of the pack. The girls earned 13th place, and the boys took 20th. Fremont, Sioux City North, and Sioux Falls Christian took the top-three spots for the boys.  Brandon Valley, Sioux Falls Christian, and Marshall secured the first-three places for the girls.

Eric Townsend, head coach for MHS, said, “It was a great opportunity for us to compete in a large-meet atmosphere. We also had the chance to compete against larger schools, out-of-state schools, and many West River schools we don’t normally get to compete against.  The atmosphere also had a different feel. The later races were under the lights and the course was smaller, shorter loops, so the fans were right there cheering on the runners for nearly every part of the race.” 

Freshman Ashlynn Batchelor placed 13th out of 256 runners, and she was the fourth Class A runner to finish. Her time was 19:34.86. Coach Townsend said, “Ashlynn put in a ton of miles over the summer, and in early timed runs, appears faster than a year ago.” 

Junior Payton Brown finished first for the Bulldogs in 37th place with a time of 16:53.33.  James Batchelor, also a junior this year, placed 43rd out of the 299 runners. He crossed the finish line at 16:55.57. 

Also for the Lady Bulldogs:  Freshman Leah Meyer came in at 21:56.05 for 111th place. Junior Kynlee Speidel finished at the 22:09.11 mark. Senior Maurina Street, 22:16.10; Sophomore Tyra Berry, 22:42.80; Seventh grader Bianca Berry, 23:03.47; Senior Ellie Neugebauer, 23:13.57; Ninth grader Jaiden Tillotson, 24:29.18; Ninth grader Elexia Quintanilla, 25:00.65;  Senior Ashlyn O’Farrell, 25:16.60; Seventh grader Avery Schuneman, 25:24.96;  Eighth grader Zayda Townsend, 25:59.91; Seventh grader Raina Untalan, 26:43.82; Eighth grader Macy Mueller, 26:44.11; Junior Jaclyn Wiik, 28:19.76; Seventh grader Belle Pauli, 28:25.20; Ninth grader Yanderyn Olivares 28:37.60; Senior Addie Farrell, 28:43.30; and Ninth Grader Camryn Sovell, 29:52.83.

Also for the Bulldogs: Sophomore Bryan Meyer came in at 18:09.20 and Junior Isaac Graham at 18:28.16. Eighth graders Liam Heller and Beckham Berry nearly crossed the finish line together at 19:02.73 and 19:04.22 respectively. Junior Grant Van Peursum finished at 19:42.31, Junior Jose Hernandez at 20:49.93; and seventh grader Rylan Wendland at 21:58.15. 
What’s next? MHS hosts the Milbank GrandStay Invitational on Saturday, September 10. The meet starts at 9:30 a.m. at Whetstone Creek Golf Course.