Rangers set personal records

 

 

The Hill City Ranger cross country team raced again Sept. 10 at the Heartland Preview in Sioux Falls.  This was a larger AA meet so only a couple of varsity boys and girls competed. 

 

The athletes did “really well” according to head coach Joe Noyes, and many Rangers set personal records. 

 

“We were the first South Dakota class A school. We were behind two schools from Minnesota and two schools from South Dakota that were AA,” Noyes said.

 

For the boys varsity 5K, Luke Rupert once again took the lead for the team. He finished in ninth place out of 152 runners with a time of 16:12.8.

 

Next, Leighton Aves finished 28th at 17:01.2, and a couple of seconds later, Tate Grabow finished 31st with a time of 17:05.9. 

 

“Both those guys ran personal record times,” said Noyes. “That’s just awesome.”

 

Brandon Escalante finished next at 17:28.6 putting him in 46th. 

 

James Dubios placed 84th with a time of 18:25.1 and Carl Stoeckmann finished 118th with a time of 19:22.

 

This put the Ranger boys’ team in fifth place overall.

 

“We were really thrilled with how our boys raced. The fact that we were fifth there, and they were super competitive. Every boy ran a personal record for the course,” Noyes said.

 

The girls varsity 5K also went well. Noyes shared that, “Everybody took a step in the right direction. Again, just getting more experience, learning how to race.”

 

 The first Ranger girl to cross the finish line was Aspen Veneklasen who finished 29th out of 112. According to Noyes, “she ran a 19:58 and broke the 20 minute barrier which is a big step for girls.” 

 

Next, Brooke Thayer-Burke finished 61st with a time of 21:22.6. 

 

After that, Paiton Flick finished 72nd with a time of 21:55.3 and Jaelyn Peters finished 80th with a time of 22:27.9.

 

Then, Lillie Ross finished in 99th with a time of 24:08.

 

“We were pleased about where the ladies were and about where they’re going,” Noyes said. “This meet has us excited. We’re starting to see some attitude shift where kids are really buying into our motto this year, ‘Team above self.’ They’re doing things for each other not just for their own benefit.

 

“When you see unselfish kids like that, it’s pretty awesome as a coach to be leading those types of men and women.”

 

The next cross country meet for the Rangers is the Lyman Raider Nation Invitational Cross Country Meet at the Medicine Creek Golf Course in Presho Saturday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m.