Lincoln boys ease to cross country title

Nathan Schroeder and Will Lauer proved a winning combo for Lincoln at Thursday’s Metro Conference meet.

Schroeder and Lauer placed first and second to pace the Patriots to the team crown at Windrow Fields east of Sioux Falls. Lincoln had 28 points to 43 for Roosevelt. They were followed by Washington (88), Brandon (92) and O’Gorman (109).

The conference title comes off of the heels of the Patriots taking part in Saturday’s Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.

“We came off of a tough weekend in the cities against some of the nation’s best, so we came into today with the expectation of holding back a bit,” said Lincoln coach Eric Pooley. “They really positioned themselves well on the hill and did a great job coming down it. The kids executed perfectly.”

Schroeder clocked in a time of 16:16.96 to edge Lauer’s run of 16:17.63, and the teammates held a steady pace throughout the race.

“Our plan from the beginning was to try to bring the rest of our team with us.” Schroeder said. “We all ran together as a pack during the first mile and a half, and everyone had great results.”

The steady pace of Schroeder and Lauer paid dividends.

All five of Lincoln’s runners had good showings. Gabe Peters was fourth, Dreux Selzler was 10th and Anders Rasmussen was 11th.

“We had Gabe Peters move up a little bit, and our four and five runners are holding strong,” Pooley said. “Those guys are a real key for us, and we need to keep it going.”

Jesus Urtusuastegui of Roosevelt finished third with a time of 16:32.32 and teammate Daniel Armstrong was fifth at 16:49.91.

The runners endured a muddy course after morning rain. That created a particular challenge on the hills.

“It’s always tough when you’re running hills and have mud,” Pooley said. “We had a couple of falls in some of the races, but it was good for us to execute in these conditions.”

Lincoln is working toward generating what it hopes will be its tightest performance Oct. 25 at the state meet in Huron.

“This is a great boost for us,” Lauer said. “We’re focusing on state right now, and we’ve really pushed toward that meet. We’ve trained hard, and the entire team has put in times to be elite.”

Washington’s Kearney girls champ

Brandon Valley needed every step from its runners in the girls race, but claimed its first Metro Conference title in thrilling fashion.

The Lynx had a score of 39, edging second-place Lincoln by two points. Washington finished third at 59. Roosevelt and O’Gorman were fourth and fifth.

“This is our first Metro Conference meet, so it’s exciting to win this,” Brandon Valley coach Larry Beesley said. “It was close, and our fifth runner was the one who got the win for us by finishing ahead of Lincoln’s fifth runner.”

The fifth runner was Haylee Waterfall, who was 13th overall in 16:56.9.

While the Lynx captured team honors, sophomore Kelsi Kearney of Washington was the individual medalist. Kearney got off to a fast start and finished with a time of 15:45 to edge second-place Jasmyne Cooper of Lincoln by three seconds.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting this result,” said Kearney of her first Metro Conference title. “I knew that Katie Patrick, Jasmyne Cooper and Courntey Klatt were all good runners, so I didn’t really think I would win. I thought I got out a little fast, but I was able to keep that pace throughout the race.”

Brandon Valley was running in its first Metro Conference Meet; last year’s was called off because of poor weather. The Lynx were led by Courntey Klatt’s third-place time of 15:49.19. Lauren Wells followed in fourth place with a time of 16:20.54.

“Courtney and Lauren ran great races for us,” Beesley said. “It was big for them to beat everyone else’s first two runners. You will always have a chance when you do that.”

Metro meet

BOYS: Lincoln 28, Roosevelt 43, Washington 88, Brandon Valley 92, O’Gorman 109.

GIRLS: Brandon Valley 39, Lincoln 41, Washington 59, Roosevelt 104, O’Gorman 105.

BOYS: Nathan Schroeder (L) 16:16.96, Will Lauer (L) 16:17.6, Jesus Urtusuagstegui (R) 16:32.3, Gabe Peters (L) 16:46.1, Daniel Armstrong (R) 16:49.9, Yonas Sadi (W) 16:50.8, Lukas Nelson (R) 16:53.1, Tyler Slaba (R) 16:53.4, Jakob Hanna (BV) 16:54.7, Dreux Selzler (L) 17:03.5

Anders Rasmussen (L) 17:03.8, Tiegen Lindner (O) 17:10.6, Tyler Dobson (L) 17:12.4, Alipo Oluak (W) 17:14.8, Logan Swenson (W) 17:15.1, Mitchell Selken (BV) 17:22.3, Dale Louden (L) 17:24.6, Cody Dutson (BV) 17:28.1, Jacob Hegland (BV) 17:31.2, Seth Iverson (R) 17:32.8.

GIRLS: Kelsi Kearney (W) 15:45.4, Jasmyne Cooper (L) 15:49.1, Courtney Klatt (BV) 15:49.2, Lauren Wells (BV) 16:20.5, Jennalee Larson (W) 16:22.8, Brooke Infield (L) 16:24.4, Caroline Sudbeck (L) 16:35.6, Danica Kocer (BV) 16:37.3, Katie Patrick (L) 16:40.1, Kylie Werner (R) 16:43.9.

Mikaela Birath (BV) 16:48.8, Kaitlyn Fischer (W) 16:52.1, Haylee Waterfall (BV) 16:56.9, Carlie Kray (W) 16:59.2, Alyssa Bierwagen (R) 17:00.8, Emma Houwan (O) 17:11.3, Peyton Johnson (L) 17:12.0, Abby Ripperda (O) 17:13.3, Alyssa Bornhoft (O) 17:16.0, Olivia Althoff (O) 17:18.6.