Ipswich's Heinz tops elite field at Huron cross-country meet

Macy Heinz of Ipswich remained undefeated on the season by winning the girls’ race at the Clyde Cotton Cross-country Invitational at Huron on Saturday.

The sophomore standout beat a trio of Rapid City Stevens runners to the finish line in a time of 15:08.47. Her teammate Tori Moore was sixth in the field.

Aberdeen Central was led by Tanner Peltier’s fifth-place finish amongst the 95 total runners in the field. Peltier covered the course in 16:46.23.

Central and Aberdeen Roncalli were among a large field of teams which got the opportunity to run on the state meet course at Broadland Creek Golf Course. The state meet will be Oct. 25. Central will run there two more times before the state meet. Rapid City Stevens swept both team titles on the day.

The Golden Eagles’ boys’ team finished eighth with two runners in the top 16, while the Cavaliers were 11th overall with 333 points.

Patrick Woods finished in 16th place, edging out a Rapid City Central runner by half a second for that spot.

Roncalli’s top runner, Noah Knapp, finished 81st overall, with Will Geyer close behind in 84th. Cavaliers’ head coach Tim Baustian was pleased with the effort given the level of competition for his team.

“Obviously it was a very talented field, a lot of AA schools in what was essentially a AA state meet minus a few schools,” Baustian said. “We knew it was going to be a roller-coaster ride, so we told the kids to strap up and hang on. Noah took that to heart and he actually got out probably too fast.”

Knapp finished in 20:02.27, with Geyer closing in at 20:18.59. If the course had been just a touch longer, Geyer probably would have overtaken Knapp, Baustian said.

“He is just one of those guys who starts out and finds his pace and keeps going and going and going the entire way,” Baustian said of Geyer. “He’s, out of all our runners, about the only guy who picked off people in the second half of the race today. He just got stronger and stronger. It was his best race of the year. He’s getting a lot better, and quickly.”

Roncalli was one of just two non-Class AA teams in attendance at the meet.

“Everyone ran a great race, every single one of them,” Baustian said. “We had a poor overall performance at our home meet and the kids really responded extremely well today. They weren’t overwhelmed or anything like that, they were just ready for a challenge.”

On the girls’ side, Aberdeen Central finished fifth of 11 teams. The Golden Eagles were led by two top-20 finishes from Brooke Malsom and Hailey Holland and checked in with 135 total points. 

“Brooke and Hailey had great races for us today,” said Central girls’ head coach Bill Martens. “Ran very well and were consistent. I thought Lexi Weisbeck had an outstanding race for us today.”

Weisbeck finished just outside of the top 20, checking in in 27th place overall.

“I was really pleased with our team effort,” Martens said. “Everyone made contributions. We had some kids step up a little bit. That’s always nice to see.”

Martens added that the Golden Eagles were able to gauge how well they stacked up against teams they haven’t seen yet over the course of the season. Rapid City Stevens — who won the team competition with 29 points — Spearfish and Harrisburg were all teams the Golden Eagles don’t normally race against.

“It’s good to see some different competition and see how your runners respond to it,” Martens said. “I thought, for the most part, we competed very well.”

Aberdeen Roncalli, which scored 284 points, was led by Isabel Litzen, who clocked in at 16:48.87, good for 31st place in the 93-person field. Mary Gutenkauf was 53rd.

“When you look at their placing, you would think that we didn’t have a really good meet,” said Roncalli girls’ coach Lisa Peterson, “but if you look at their times, it’s one of the best times that they’ve ran this season.”

Peterson said competing against runners from Class AA schools definitely impacted her squad.

“It really pushed our girls,” Peterson said. “Their times were phenomenal.”

Peterson was pleased that her runners had a chance to run on the state-meet course.

“That was one of the main reasons why we wanted to add Huron to our schedule,” Peterson said. “It wasn’t a meet to go to try to win and try to get our kids in the top 20. It was just to kind of get them comfortable with the course.”

Roncalli competes at a meet in Clear Lake on Monday.

BOYS’ DIVISION

Team Points: Rapid City Stevens 26, Sioux Falls Washington 95, Pierre 123, Brookings 132, Rapid City Central 152, Watertown 155, Harrisburg 165, Aberdeen Central 173, Miller 189, Spearfish 192, Aberdeen Roncalli 333.

Top 20 Individual Runners

1, Jacob Simmons, Sturgis, 16:11.98; 2, Connor Haaland, Rapid City Stevens, 16:16.52; 3, Mark Poston, Rapid City Stevens, 16:37.45; 4, Yonas Sadi, Sioux Falls Washington, 16:40.97; 5, Tanner Peltier, Aberdeen Central, 16:46.23; 6, Tom Pfeifle, Rapid City Stevens, 16:48.62; 7, Tristan Christoffer, Rapid City Stevens, 16:50.22; 8, Jebben Keyes, Pierre, 16:53.09; 9, Joseph Barnes, Spearfish, 16:59.51; 10, Greyson Zamora, Harrisburg, 17:01.80;

11, Cole Sargent, Miller, 17:03.70; 12, Logan Swenson, Sioux Falls Washington, 17:11.43; 13, Andrew Jones, Rapid City Stevens, 17:16.82; 14, Andrew Cottier, Rapid City Central, 17:17.25; 15, Alipo Oluak, Sioux Falls Washington, 17:22.48; 16, Patrick Woods, Aberdeen Central, 17:26.42; 17, Tristan Deming, Rapid City Central, 17:26.87; 18, Alex Auch, Harrisburg, 17:27.42; 19, Seth McKinley, Pierre, 17:29.47; 20, Michael Rynearson, Brookings, 17:34.06.

Other Aberdeen Central runners: 59, Alex Tiede, 18:46.11; 65, Chauncy Goethals, 19:17.95; 73, Josh Moore, 19:40.22.

Aberdeen Roncalli runners: 81, Noah Knapp, 20:02.27; 84, Will Geyer, 20:18.59; 89, Lucas Goetz, 21:12.05; 94, Zach Hammrich, 22:31.11; 95, Robert Goscicki, 22:47.12.

Other area runners: 30, Mason Breitling, Miller, 17:59.00; 32, Trey Waldrop, Miller, 18:05.10; 63, Colton Weeldryer, Ipswich, 18:56.34; 69, Wyatt Haux, Ipswich, 19:30.38; 76, Hunter Russell, Miller, 19:44.74; 83, Connor Bertsch, Miller, 20:12.20; 88, Jason Manning, Miller, 21:07.43; 91, Matthew Geditz, Ipswich, 21:26.32; 92, Hayden Peterman, Miller, 21:53.57.

GIRLS’ DIVISION

Team Points: Rapid City Stevens 29, Sioux Falls Washington 90, Pierre 91, Ipswich 109, Aberdeen Central 135, Sturgis 177, Harrisburg 199, Watertown 203, Spearfish 210, Brookings 243, Aberdeen Roncalli 284.

Top 20 Individual Results

1, Macy Heinz, Ipswich, 15:08.47; 2, Emily Person, Rapid City Stevens, 15:15.17; 3, Jamie Schweiss, Rapid City Stevens, 15:19.03; 4, Kendra Dykstra, Rapid City Stevens, 15:37.84; 5, Carlie Kray, Sioux Falls Washington, 15:44.08; 6, Tori Moore, Ipswich, 15:46.73; 7, Maisey Bainbridge, Lennox, 15:48.58; 8, Allison Green, Sturgis, 15:51.96; 9, Maria Bunkers, Rapid City Central, 15:53.37; 10, Rachel Propst, Pierre, 15:53.69;

11, Felicia Roskam, Rapid City Stevens, 16:07.67; 12, Brooke Malsam, Aberdeen Central, 16:07.98; 13, Mallory Fine, Rapid City Stevens, 16:11.46; 14, Jennalee Larson, Sioux Falls Washington, 16:11.91; 15, Kaitlyn Fischer, Sioux Falls Washington, 16:15.47; 16, Ellie Abraham, Brookings, 16:16.80; 17, Mary Krause, Mitchell, 16:18.53; 18, Gwyneth, Sturgis, 16:22.18; 19, Hailey Holland, Aberdeen Central, 16:22.56; 20, Hannah Shaffer, Pierre, 16:23.29.

Other Aberdeen Central runners: 27, Lexi Weisbeck, 16:38.83; 42, Sami Shields, 17:12.45; 57, Madisyn Waage, 17:38.37; 70, Katherine Erickson, 18:09.62; 78, Emma Ahlberg, 18:26.68; 90, Leah Geffre, 20:29.56; 93, Sydney Wright, 22:02.18.

Aberdeen Roncalli runners: 31, Isabel Litzen, 16:48.87; 53, Mary Gutenkauf, 17:33.20; 89, Leah Norton, 20:01.51; 91, Abby Vogel, 20:45.24; 92, Kelsey Peterson, 21:31.6.

Other area runners: 28, Aleah Steger, Ipswich, 16:40.51; 37, Taylor Loken, Ipswich, 17:00.53; 51, Taylor Mauer, 17:31.33; 63, Tessa Kilber, 17:51.58; 75, Bailey Hammrich, Ipswich, 18:15.28.

BOYS’ JUNIOR VARSITY

Aberdeen Central runners: 2, Jackson Harrison, 14:35.33; 7, Shane Ritter, 15:06.11; 14, Luke Jacobs, 15:28.50; 22, Zachary Johnson, 15:44.89; 32, Brandon Ritter, 16:11.81; 33, Brandon Steed, 16:13.69; 50, Austin Burris, 16:53.38; 82, Aaron Knox, 19:21.33.

Aberdeen Roncalli runners: 64, Will Schaefbauer, 17:41.83; 84, Isaac Norton, 20:44.78; 85, Anthony Snow, 20:51.99.

GIRLS’ JUNIOR VARSITY

Aberdeen Central runners: 4, Jenna Zantow, 17:43.52; 7, Kylie Kaven, 18:05.14; 10, Hannah Schmierer, 18:13.78; 14, Stephanie Jay, 18:35.52; 19, Amanda Jacobs, 19:08.33; 25, Adrianna Hase, 19:56.06; 30, Zoe Buckstead, 20:29.92; 36, Alley Larson, 21:04.32.

Aberdeen Roncalli runner: 45, Katie Buttolph, 28:05.50.

BOYS’ MIDDLE SCHOOL

Team Points: Pierre 47, Watertown 59, Aberdeen Central 97, Mitchell 101, Harrisburg 123, Lennox 152, Brookings 156, Aberdeen Roncalli 197.

Aberdeen Central runners: 10, Aaron Ryan, 9:25.21; 11, Micah Henschen, 9:25.79; 24, Joshua Mehlhoff, 9:52.39; 26, Reece Burckhard, 9:56.10; 34, Aiden McCafferty, 10:10.82; 37, Hunter Lemer, 10:15.66; 42, Cole Burris, 10:21.60; 111, Lincoln End of Horn, 12:59.16; 116, Dawson Frink, 13:55.16; 117, Riley Ankeney, 13:58.39; 120, Bryce Kraft, 15:45.45; 121, Aryaman Sharona, 15:46.14.

Aberdeen Roncalli runners: 30, Ben Wirth, 10:06.37; 31, Kaleb Norton, 10:06.94.

GIRLS’ MIDDLE SCHOOL

Team Points: Aberdeen Central 18, Pierre 42, Watertown 85, Brookings 113, Mitchell 147, Harrisburg 173, Huron 182.

Aberdeen Central runners: 1, Melanie Jacobs, 9:09.83; 2, Abby Kopecky, 9:34.19; 3, Zoe Douglas, 9:54.04; 4, Kaitlyn Holland, 9:56.68; 8, Ava Riggs, 10:13.52; 11, Aby Lang, 10:20.60; 15, Sophie Schnell, 10:31.49; 23, Grace Thompson, 10:48.08; 24, Jordan Hermansen, 10:49.07; 29, 33, Rhiannan Abel, 11:08; 41, Briana Altmaier, 11:21.76; 48, Alex Day, 11:32.95; 49, Lindsey Steed, 11:34.30; 54, Ellie Kendal, 11:43.88; 60, Tailyn Bendewald, 11:58.30; 61, Bailey Schaeffer, 11:58.82; 64, Samantha Ferguson, 12:00.77; 66, Brooklyn Kusler, 12:02.27; 67, Janae Bosma, 12:02.80; 68, Hannah Sahli, 12:03.37; 69, Tanah Messerole, 12:04.66; 72, Sierra Udell, 12:10.12; 80, Hannah Struble, 12:36.18; 84, Grace Myhre, 12:47.52; 86, Karlee Tosse, 12:50.53; 90, Stephanie VanVeen, 13:06.74; 91, Hannah Kelley, 13:08.08; 96, Nikkie Sandquist, 13:41.20.

Aberdeen Roncalli runners: 29, Elissa Hammrich, 10:56.67; 32, Anna Schmidt, 11:02.16.