Spirit Lake was able to crown one of its own as champion Tuesday at the Lakes Conference Cross Country Meet held at Brooks National Golf Course. Senior Keith Byers ran a time of 15:34 to take the individual boys title. Teammate Will Norris followed right behind for second place, with a time of 15:43. The Indians had two other runners earning All-Conference honors, with Kyle Anderson and Tanner Goetsch finishing in the top-14. As a team, Spirit Lake tallied 52 points, good for second behind overall team champion Storm Lake (32). Spencer (55) finished third overall, led by Ryan Bauermeister and his third place time. LeMars (128) was fourth, Western Christian (135) fifth, and Emmetsburg (155) took sixth.
The LeMars Bulldogs claimed the top spot as a team for the girls competition, collecting 52 points. Western Christian (57) was second by five points, followed by Spencer (61) in third, Estherville-Lincoln Central/Armstrong-Ringsted (73) fourth, Spirit Lake (115) fifth, Emmetsburg (166) sixth, Storm Lake (202) seventh, and Cherokee (202) eighth. Dondi Schmidt was the lone All-Conference performer for Spirit Lake, claiming fourth place in a time of 15:43. Two others finished in the top-25.
The Siouxland Conference Cross Country Meet was hosted by Okoboji High School at Woodlyn Hills Golf Course, and was dominated on both sides by MOC-Floyd Valley. The Dutch ran to team titles in both the boys and girls races. The boys finished with 49 points, besting second place Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (66) by 17 points. West Lyon (67) came in third, Sioux Center (83) fourth, Okoboji (87) fifth, Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (162) sixth, and Sheldon (171) seventh. Individually, teammates Adam Sohl (17:25) and Josh Schriever (17:27) from Central Lyon/George-Little Rock finished two seconds apart and went first and second, respectively. Okoboji’s top runner was Joe Hilsabeck, who ran to a seventh-place time of 17:45. The Pioneers had five other runners finish in the top-25.
The girls race was also taken by the Dutch with an impressive 35 points. Sioux Center (57) was second, followed by Sheldon (86) third, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (104) fourth, Sibley-Ocheyedan (113) fifth, and Okoboji (121) was sixth. Leah Seivert of Sibley-Ocheyedan took the individual crown in 14:53, a full 48 seconds ahead of second place Bethany Dykstra (15:41) of MOC-Floyd Valley. Okoboji’s best runner was Olivia Albright, running a time of 17:29 for 16th overall. Four others finished in the top-30 for the Pioneers.
The Class 2A District meet for Spirit Lake and Okoboji is Thursday, October 20 in Orange City.
