Class AA girls cross country: Rapid City teams set pace in title chase

The Rapid City Stevens girls will look to defend their Class AA state cross country title from last year, but the Raiders will have company up front.

Their cross-city rival, Rapid City Central, finished second to Stevens last year by 41 points, but both the Cobblers and Raiders return a strong core of runners.

Stevens returns senior Emily Person (fourth), who edged out junior Shacey Burgess (fifth) of Central by four seconds at last year’s state meet. Stevens returns junior Jamie Schweiss (ninth), but not far behind is Central freshman Ava Parris (11th).

The Raiders have one more top-25 runner returning in junior Kendra Dykstra (20th).

The Rapids City schools will be pushed by Yankton this year as the Gazelles return a couple of top-25 finishers as well. Savannah Woods (third) is the top returning runner in the state, while freshman Madison McClure (25th) will also be a factor.

The Sioux Falls title drought will likely continue in 2014. A Sioux Falls school has won the overall title just three times in the history of the event, the last coming in 2008 when Roosevelt took the honors.

Only three Sioux Falls runners placed in the top 25 of last year’s state meet – Washington sophomore Kelsi Kearney (seventh), O’Gorman sophomore Abby Ripperda (15th) and Washington freshman Carlie Kray (22nd).

Sioux Falls schools finished sixth (Washington), seventh (Lincoln), 10th (O’Gorman) and 12th (Roosevelt) in the team standings last year. Here’s a closer look at the city schools:

Washington

The Warriors were the closest team in recent years to break through for a Sioux Falls school. Washington finished second in 2012 and had high hopes last year.

The return of Kearney will be the anchor for the Warriors, but they’re going to need some depth to make a run. Kray and sophomore Kaitlyn Fischer both finished in the top 30 last year and should help with the Washington depth.

“We are a very experienced team but we will need to have several runners step up so that we can compete for a top-four spot at the state meet,” Washington coach Mike Schultz said.

“Last year we faced adversity with some injuries and we were disappointed in our finish.”

The Warriors do have three seniors in Cassie Stoick, Coryn Johnson and Kayli Tolk. Junior Cassidy Rodman and ninth-grader Rheannan Bills round out the varsity roster.

Other ninth-graders competing for a varsity spot for Washington include Aislyn Manley, Jennalee Larson and Reagan Henderson.

Lincoln

The Patriots have a shot at moving up from their seventh-place finish last year. They return six of their top seven runners and add one of the state’s top distance runners in Jasmyne Cooper, who is transferring from Harrisburg.

Sophomore Katie Patrick is a solid distance runner who also excels in the triathlon. She and Cooper will anchor the Patriots up front. The Patriots also return juniors Brooke Infield, Sydney Sweeter, Hattie Seten and sophomore Lydia Hooker.

“We had an excellent summer of training, which put us in great position to make a jump into the title hunt,” Lincoln coach Eric Pooley said.

O’Gorman

Ripperda will be a force for the Knights this year despite coming off of an injury in this spring’s track season.

The Knights are young, but senior Alyssa Bornhort will lead the inexperienced group. Several underclassmen are looking to fill in the varsity roster for coach Doug Lindner’s squad.

“We will be made up of many young and inexperienced runners all looking to be part of our team,” Lindner said. “Our numbers are good, and we hope that the impressive work the kids have done running this summer pays off.”

Roosevelt

The Rough Riders return a couple of seniors in Bethany Pearson and Mariya Sachek. Roosevelt will also have senior Brooke DeVos. DeVos has never run cross country but has been a standout for the Riders in track.

Sophomores make up the balance of Roosevelt’s roster in Alyssa Bierwagen, Kyle Werner and Brooke Luitjens. Luitjens is in her first year at Roosevelt after moving from Colorado.

“We are optimistic that we can continue to improve throughout the season and improve on our state finish from last season,” Wagoner said.

FALL SPORTS PREVIEWS

The Argus Leader is taking a closer look at the high school fall sports season with a series of area previews. Here’s the schedule of upcoming stories:

Today: Girls

cross country

Aug. 27-28: Soccer

Aug. 28: Football

(special section)

Sept. 1-2: Volleyball

Sept.5: Softball