The top-ranked Spirit Lake Park boys cross country team can add another title to their growing list in 2010, as they are District Champs following their run in Orange City on Thursday. Their female counterparts ran to a third place finish, and both squads are now headed to the Class 2A state meet in Fort Dodge next weekend. The boys’ 56 team points edged out second place Unity Christian by eight points, with George-Little Rock earning the third spot. Okoboji finished tied for seventh, while Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn came in tenth. Alec Baldwin was once again the lead dog, earning an individual meet championship with first place run of 16:05. Teammate Keith Byers was the next across the finish line at 16:23. Will Norris was fourth at 16:39. Kyle Anderson, Tanner Goetsch and Gabe McCoy all finished in the top 35 for the Indians. Okoboji was paced by Joe Hilsabeck’s 17th-place time of 17:45, with Taylor Cody, Caleb Vanderpool, and Chris Albright all in the top-45.
The Spirit Lake Park girls third place finish was within 20 points of district champion Unity Christian and second-place Sioux Center. Sibley-Ocheyedan’s Leah Seivert was the first to break the tape, followed by the Indians KJ Veldman at 15:36. Brianna Brunsvold was sixth, while Dondi Schmidt was 14th. Jesse Kabele, Liz Skogerboe and Justine Heinitz were all in top 40. The Pioneers Clare Eckard ran an individual time of 16:00 to place thirteenth. The state meet will be held at Municipal Park in Fort Dodge on October 30th.
In the Class 3A meet at Denison-Schleswig, Spencer finished seventh in the boys race, led by Ryan Bauermeister’s fifth place individual run of 17:17. The Tigers girls ran to a fifth place finish, followed by Estherville-Lincoln Central/Armstrong-Ringsted in sixth. Spencer’s Cierra Guerrero came away with a runner-up time 15:38, while ELC/AR’s McKenzie Woodyard qualified with a seventh place time of 16:12, and Sara Edwardson from Spencer was tenth.
The Class 1A schools ran at Ridge View, with the Emmetsburg boys coming in eighth. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn’s girls team just missed a trip to state by 30 points, finishing in fourth, with Emmetsburg in 15th. HMS’ Katie Knoblock (15:57) and Brenna Sweeney (16:04) finished third and sixth, respectively.
