RAPID CITY — Yankton’s Annie Kruse enjoyed a storybook ending to her high school cross country career on Saturday as the senior used a furious charge over the final 1,000 meters of the South Dakota State Cross Country Meet to claim the AA individual title over Rapid City’s Tamara Gorman at Robbinsdale Park in Rapid City.
Kruse, who ran up front in meets all season, saw the Rapid City Stevens standout take the early lead and hold a sizable margin through the halfway point of the two lap course.
“We knew it would be a two girl race with Annie and Gorman,” Yankton head coach Dave Dannenbring said. “We told (Annie) that Tamara had two choices, she could either take it out and try to break you or she could hang back and feel you out and then try to break you. If the pace goes out a little too hard we told her to just back off because if Tamara can keep that pace then she (Gorman) deserves to win and if the pace is too hard for you you don’t want to blow up, you want to have a chance to come back.”
The strategy worked to perfection as Kruse started to close the gap just past halfway through the race and used the hills on the back half of the course to catch Gorman and eventually make the race winning pass.
“I was getting kind of nervous when the gap started growing but I knew I had it when we were working up on the hill (on the second lap) and I just charged through,” Kruse said.
Over the final 400 meter straightaway to the finish lined with cheering spectators, Kruse pulled away to claim a 21-second victory, finishing in 14:03.
“We told Annie we would be at 1,000 meters to go just to let her know that is the distance to the finish and she just had that look in her eye that she was going to keep going,” Dannenbring said. “It was an exciting race and to see her go over that hill (towards the finish) and have all those people down there and to see Annie go by (Gorman) was a great day for her and our whole program. She has worked hard and is one of the best kids you’ll ever meet.”
After posting a runner-up finish at last year’s state meet in a surprising Gazelles 1-2 sweep with Savannah Woods, Kruse had only one more spot to climb on the podium in her final state meet.
“I’ve been working so hard this season and to win this was the cherry on top of a perfect season,” Kruse, who will run at Augustana next year, said. “It feels amazing – it feels great to finish off my high school career winning a state meet.”
Gorman, who missed last year’s state meet, finished a strong second ahead of defending champion Woods.
Gorman was able to take solace in helping Stevens to the team title, ahead of city rival Rapid City Central, 58-99. The Gazelles placed third in the team race with a score of 110, while Pierre and Brandon Valley rounded out the top five.
Madison McClure nabbed the final all-state placing (top 25 individuals), with a 25th place finish. Lauren Graves (34th) and Whitlee Larson (47th) rounded out the Gazelles scoring.
“Madison worked her way up the pack and that’s a great finish for her,” Dannenbring said. “Lauren started off a little slow but closed hard and was chewing people up over the last 1,500 meters and laid it on the line and that’s what we needed. I’m really proud of our girls for getting out and competing. Getting third is a great finish for us.”
Tessa Folkers (53rd) and Abbey Vanmeeteren (101st) finished as pushers for the Gazelles.
On the boys’ side, the Bucks were led by senior Brice Cowman, who Dannenbring said ran “the race of his life” to end the day and his high school cross country career in fifth place.
Addison Dehaven was heavily favored entering the afternoon and the Brookings standout did not disappoint, battling with Lincoln’s Will Lauer early in the race before pulling away for a 26 second victory, covering the 5,000 meter course in 15:34.
Cowman, who was out-kicked by one second in the final 50 meters, ended up with a time of 16:19.
“Brice tightened up in the last 300 meters but he put himself in a position to be fifth,” Dannenbring said. “We were thinking going in if he can be sixth through tenth then it will be a great day, but he put himself in a great position and got out ahead of everybody and gutted it out. Only one kid can win and if you can do the very best you have ever done at the state meet then that’s a great day.”
Justin Grode came in second for the Bucks, placing 25th overall with a clocking of 17:22. Same Gusso (51st), Andrew Peitz (60th), and Kyle Bergeson (79th) rounded out Yankton’s top five, guiding the Bucks to a sixth place team finish. Brady Jaquith (91st) and Brody McClure (108th) also competed for the Bucks.
“We had some kids who learned a lesson that you have to learn to deal with nerves and that there will be a lot of boys at the beginning and there will be some pushing and shoving,” Dannenbring said. “Hopefully we learned a lot here.”
The highlight of the afternoon for the Bucks though belonged to Cowman, a USD cross country and track recruit.
“I was really nervous coming into this knowing it was my last xc race,” Cowman said. “I knew I had to put it on the line and I feel good about the way it ended.”
Lincoln won back-to-back team titles for the first time since their 1970’s dynasty under Rich Greeno on the strength of 2-3-4 finish. The Patriots also placed runners 12th and 13th and put all seven runners in the top 20, easily defeating Roosevelt 32-95.
Rapid City Stevens placed third while O’Gorman and Brandon Valley rounded out the top five.
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