BROOKINGS The Brookings cross country teams began their seasons two weeks ago and have gotten off to a strong start to the season.
The Bobcats competed in the John Colignon Cross Country Invitational in Madison and then ran in the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls on Friday.
The Brookings boys won the season-opening meet in Madison and had three of the top five runners in the meet. Brookings head coach Chris Gruenhagen said it was a good start to the season, especially after they lost a lot of talent on the boys side from last year.
We have a little bit different look to our varsity team this year. We had our [top four runners] from last year move one, either from graduation or a family move. So, it does maybe look different than what it was a year ago, Gruenhagen said.
Brookings had four seniors in its top five at Madison, but it was a sophomore who stole the show. Gruenhagen said Dylan Harr is looking like he will be the top runner on the team but he wouldnt put it past a couple of the seniors to give him a run for that top spot.
Marco Springman, Shane Harming, Jack Bierman and Weston Baker were four of the five runners we had run varsity [to open the season]. Dylan Harr, who happened to finish second in the race [in Madison] rounded out our varsity team. [Harr] was kind of in the mix last year in the fall in four, five and six spots. I definitely think that with a quality spring and a fantastic summer of training, hes in very good shape right now and is hungry to get better, Gruenhagen said.
The girls side is led by young talent as well but there are six juniors in the top nine runners.
We have a great contingent of girls, Gruenhagen said. Were very junior class heavy overall on our girls roster. This group has come together well when it comes to distance runs or workouts for their training daily. Im excited about where its going to lead throughout the season.
Brookings came in third in Madison and Gruenhagen broke down how his runners finished in the race.
We were led [in Madison] by sophomore Maisie Mogard and shortly behind her was seventh grader Aubrey Cooley, and then fellow sophomore Kalla Foerster was our third runner. Then we had two juniors in Jordyn Johnson and Isabel Overby, who were our fourth and fifth runners. We also have some more juniors [that are right behind those five] in Natalie Kahler, Quinn Ulvestad, Sofia Gonzalez and Kaylie Kuehl that I could see jump in the mix in the varsity squad, Gruenhagen said.
Gruenhagen said those nine girls will compete for the seven varsity spots at the State Meet and its nice to have competition within the team.
Right now were looking at nine girls that will all have the opportunity to make an impact at any given meet. Which is a good thing to have because theyre going to be pushing each other and will be collaboratively challenging each other to see that improvement. Well only be able to run seven at the State Meet, but that will be a decision that will be made throughout the season and as of right now, it would be hard to predict who that will be, Gruenhagen said.
Gruenhagen has three meets circled on the schedule. The Bobcats home meet is Sept. 25 at Edgebrook Golf Course. The Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet is Oct. 11 at Wild Oak Country Club in Mitchell and then the State Meet is Oct. 25 at Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.
Gruenhagen laid out how he wants each team to finish at both the conference and state meets.
I would say I focus on more of the goals of the team in terms of performance. Maybe not so much week to week, but certainly as we look ahead to those big, important races. Certainly the State Meet is the most important, followed by the conference meet and then our home meet. I think [the boys] should focus on finishing in the top half, top four, of the conference meet and potentially around eight to 10 at the State Meet. For the girls, I think there is certainly an opportunity to improve on their performance from a year ago. I think again, around 10 to 12 at the State Meet and four or fifth at the conference meet, especially if things progress the way they have in the first three weeks of the season,” Gruenhagen said.
Brookings will head back to Sioux Falls this Saturday for the Heartland Preview at Yankton Trail Park.
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