Bulldog Boys Take First and Girls Take Second at NEC Cross Country Meet

The temperatures were in the 30s with the wind chill at the NEC Conference Meet in Webster on October 6. But, the Bulldogs’ cross country teams didn’t let the weather stop them from bringing home the hardware. Payton Brown earned the individual NEC championship title, the boys varsity team won their second consecutive team title, and the girls varsity placed second.
Eric Townsend, head coach for Milbank, said, “The girls’ second-place finish is the seventh consecutive year the girls’ team has finished in the top two. The boys’ varsity team won their second consecutive NEC team title and have placed in the top two at the NEC meet six straight years.” Townsend also noted, “Almost everyone that ran the same course a year ago for the Bulldogs, ran it faster this year.” 

Boys Varsity 5K Eight male runners from MHS placed in the top-20. As mentioned, Payton Brown, a junior, took home first place with his time of 16:51.26. Ricky Berndt of Deuel came in second at 17:38.32. James Batchelor, a junior, was third. He finished at 17:45.7. Sophomore Bryan Meyer was fourth. He clocked in at 18:38.01.

Junior Isaac Graham came in at 18:50.93 to take sixth place. Junior Grant Van Peursum took 11th with his time of 19:22.25.  Beckham Berry and Liam Heller, both ninth graders,  took the 12th and 13th places. Berry finished at 19:29.61 and Heller at 19:33.17. Jack Howard made the top 20 by crossing the line at 20:05.76 to take 18th place.

The team standings included: (1) Milbank (2) Deuel (3) Aberdeen Roncalli (4) Webster Area (5) Clark-Willow Lake and (6) Groton Area.

Girls Varsity 5K Seven MHS female runners cracked the top-20 in the girls 5K race. Freshman Ashlynn Batchelor earned second place for the Lady Bulldogs. She clocked in at 20:26.02, just behind Jaycee Hourigan, a sophomore from Deuel. Hourigan came in at 20:16.21 to win the race.
Bianca Berry, a seventh grader, took ninth place with her time of 21:49.08. Seniors Ellie Neugebauer and Maurina Street finished in 10th and 11th places. Neugebauer at 21:54.81 and Street at 21:56.15. Kynlee Speidel, a junior, took 12th with her time of 21:58.75.

Sophomore Tyra Berry earned 15th place with her time of 22:05.47. Ninth-grader Leah Meyer took 19th place at 22:42.43. Junior Stella Wendland clocked in at 23.25.94 to take 23rd place. Elexia Quintanilla, a ninth grader, took 24th place at 23:33.93. Seventh-grader Avery Schuneman finished in 27th place with her time of 23:46.70. Eight-graders Zayda Townsend and Macy Mueller took the 30th and 31st places. Townsend clocked in at 24:57.07 and Mueller at 24:57.69.

The team standings included: (1) Clark-Willow Lake (2) Milbank (3) Aberdeen Roncalli and (4) Webster Area.

JV Boys 3000 Ryland Wendland (7) took the top place for the Bulldogs. He earned third with his time of 13:57.22. Franco Flores (7) came in at 15:34.63 to take 11th place. Armando Chan (7) took 15th place. He crossed the finish line at 16:56.99.

Team standings included: (1) Deuel (2) Webster Area and (3) Groton Area.

JV Girls 3000Raina Untalan (7) was the top finisher for the Lady Bulldogs JV team. She took fourth place at 15:48.90.  Ava Sichmeller (8) came in at sixth place at 16:03.12. Belle Pauli (7) took seventh at 16:03.57. Jaclyn Wiik (11) was eighth at 16:05.60. Yanderyn Olivares (9) came in at 11th place at 16:23.93. Sophia Gastineau (11) was 12th at 16:41.28. Josie Riveland (10) took 18th at 17:34.31. Camryn Sovell (9) was 21st at 17:41.11. Addie Farrell (12) was 23rd at 17:43.92. Reese Schuneman (8) earned 24th place at 18:13.29. Bree Townsend (7) came in at 19:26.48 to take 25th place.

“Overall, I am proud of how we competed and the great races we ran,” Coach Townsend said. ” Our goal going into next week is to continue to heal some injuries and run our best races of the season. The JV runners will conclude their season at the region meet.  The varsity teams will be aiming to be one of the top-three teams in the region.”  The top-three teams qualify for the state meet.

What’s next? The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs head to the Region 1A meet in Webster on October 13. The meet starts at 3:30 pm. The top three teams and the top-20 runners qualify for the state meet.