Spirit Lake cross country runners Keith Byers and Will Norris have finished 1-2 in every meet the Indians ran this year, and that trend continued Saturday in Ft. Dodge when the duo ran to a first and second-place finish, respectively, in the Class 2A boys race. Byers, a senior, led a majority of the race and broke the tape in 15:36 to be crowned the state champ. Norris, a junior, was just steps behind in 15:48. As a team, Spirit Lake recorded 146 team points to finish in sixth place, 73 points back of overall champion Monticello. The Okoboji boys team ran to an eleventh place finish with 254 points. Junior Joe Hilsabeck crossed the finish line in 16:27 to grab the 16th spot individually.
Other Spirit Lake Runners:
26) Tanner Goetsch, So, 16:59
45) Kyle Anderson, So, 17:24
72) Moritz Plieger, Jr, 17:58
88) Zach Skopec, So, 18:31
92) Jackson Walsh, Jr, 18:40
Other Okoboji Runners:
52) Chris Albright, Jr, 17:40
59) Zach Jones, Sr, 17:45
61) Ryan Chinlund, Fr, 17:45
66) Colby Kraninger, So, 17:49
67) Keith Oskvig, Sr, 17:49
90) Taylor Cody, Jr, 18:33
Click here for comments from Keith Byers and Will Norris.
Spirit Lake was also represented in the Class 2A girls race by Dondi Schmidt. The sophomore ran a time of 15:41 to take 17th place overall. Unity Christian won the girls team title with 80 points, and Sioux Center took third with 125 points.
Harris-Lake Park’s Kayne Feldick was a first time qualifier in the boys Class 1A race, and the senior wound up in 16th place with a time of 17:01. As for the girls Class 1A race, Sibley-Ocheyedan sophomore Leah Seivert ran to a second-straight runner-up finish. Her time of 14:31 was 42-seconds off the pace. Teammate and fellow sophomore Amy Dreessen was 40th at 16:00. Right behind her was Katie Knoblock from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, running in 16:01. Emmetsburg was represented by Olivia Smith and her time of 17:18 put the freshman in 87th place. In the team competition, Sioux Central tallied 247 points to finish in thirteenth.
In Class 3A, Spencer sophomores Ryan Bauermeister and Cierra Guerrero both ran to top-20 finishes in their respective races. Bauermeister crossed the finish line thirteenth at 16:09 for the boys, while Guerrero was 18th in 15:20 in the girl’s competition. Both improved their times and standings from running as freshman at state last fall.
