Cross country: Lincoln doubles up on city rivals

The 23rd annual Mack Butler Invitational cross country meet showcased the quality and quantity of Lincoln High runners.

The Patriots won the boys and girls divisions Tuesday at Kuehn Park. The meet consists of the four biggest Sioux Falls schools.

The Lincoln boys finished with 23 points to 40 for Roosevelt. The Lincoln girls had 25 points to 42 for Washington.

The O'Gorman boys were third with 86 points to 90 for Washington. The Roosevelt girls were third with 67 points and O'Gorman had 94.

Lincoln doubled up with individual champions as well. Will Lauer was the boys winner in 15 minutes, 48.46 seconds. Sophomore Katie Patrick led all girls in 15:11.82.

The Patriots' season debut was exactly what Coach Eric Pooley said he wanted.

"I'm extremely pleased. With the good girls and boys we have, along with their leadership, we just have kind of a perfect storm," Pooley said. "We have a lot of talent on both ends and will just keep working hard. This is a great start, and it's always nice to come out and be city champs."

The defending state boys champion Patriots and Lauer, who was the individual runner-up last fall, picked up right where they left off. Lauer dominated. His closest competition was teammate Nathan Schroeder with a time of 16:14.46, finishing almost a half-minute behind Lauer. Schroeder was fourth in last fall's state meet.

"Will is just going to be Will. He's one of the best runners in the state, so he will be running by himself for a while," Pooley said. "Nathan ran a great race for us to fill that second spot for us. He's a state champion if Will's not on the team."

Lauer said he's worked hard to put himself in position to contend for a state title.

"I built up some fitness over the offseason," he said. "It's really not a secret, but I was able to learn how to train after disappointing results during my freshman and sophomore seasons. Things started to develop for me last year, and it's continued into this year."

Unlike Lauer, Patrick had to grind her way to victory—and a familiar landscape enabled the sophomore to do just that. Patrick was in a battle with Washington's Kelsi Kearney much of the race, but Patrick's endurance up Kuehn Park's vaunted hill proved a difference maker.

"Our plan at the beginning was to hold back a bit and go at the mile point," Pooley said. "Katie did that, and you could tell she had a lot left in the tank when she went up that hill. She's just a phenomenal athlete."

Patrick credits her teams work on the hills at Tuthill Park for her final result, and she sees her season debut as a springboard. Patrick finished 32nd at last year's state meet, and the triathlete's victory Tuesday was an emphatic start to improving that result.

"I was super happy because we were all looking forward to this race and the beginning of cross country," Patrick said. "I took it with a positive attitude, and I'm grateful for the outcome. I'm hoping to snowball these results toward the ultimate goal."

Harrisburg transfer Jasmyne Cooper was third in her Patriots debut. Brooke Infield and Caroline Sudbeck finished fourth and fifth.

"We were kind of unsure in regard to the girls before (Tuesday)," Pooley said. "We have two seventh-grade girls running varsity for us and a transfer coming in. There are things that we will get better at, but the talent is obviously there. They did well beyond what I anticipated."

MACK BUTLER RESULTS

BOYS: Lincoln 23, Roosevelt 40, O'Gorman 86, Washington 90.

GIRLS: Lincoln 23, Washington 42, Roosevelt 67. O'Gorman 94.

BOYS: Will Lauer (L) 15:48.46, Nathan Schroeder (L) 16:14.46, Jesus Urtusuastegui (R) 16:36.97, Daniel Armstrong (R) 16:43.82, Gabe Peters (L) 16:52.91, Anders Rasmussen (L) 16:56.0, Logan Swenson (W) 16:59.05, Lukas Nelson (R) 17:05.03, Dreux Selzler (L) 17:16.23, Tyler Slaba (L) 17:18.26.

Tyler Dobson (L) 17:27.51, Dale Loudon (L) 17:41.10, Joseph Schmidt (OG) 17:44.61, Alipo Oluak (W) 17:44.97, Seth Iverson (R) 18:03.21, Henry Kiltzke (L) 18:09.82, Cole Edwards (OG) 18:15.36, Tiegen Lindner (OG) 18:25.46, Josh Goehring (R) 18:25.99, Rodrigo Balmaceda (OG) 18:40.64.

GIRLS: Katie Patrick (L) 15.11.82, Kelsi Kearney (W) 15:42.33, Jasmyne Cooper (L) 16:17.44, Brooke Infield (L) 16:22.10, Caroline Sudbeck (L) 16:33.06, Carlie Kray (W) 16:38.80, Kailtyn Fischer (W) 16:46.62, Alyssa Bierwagen (R) 16:48.62, Bethany Pearson (R) 16:49.16, Alyssa Bornhoft (OG) 16:50.66.

Emma Houwman (OG) 16:55.85, Peyton Johnson (L) 17:09.61, Cassidy Rodman (W) 17:19.45, Coryn Johnson (W) 17:21.12, Kylie Werner (R) 17:28.92, Brooke DeVos (R) 17:37.07, Kayli Tolk (W) 17:42.51, Ludia Hooker (L) 17:42.94, Lydia Pearson (R) 18:05.63, Cassandra Stoick (W) 18:19.05.