Durand
Four meets in two weeks have kept the B-W Cross Country runners busy
recently. Times are improving as runners build their endurance and reach
personal goals.
The Durand Invitational featured the traditional Durand Hill, known
for many years as one of the toughest hills on the cross country circuit.
Aaron Peterson again lead the Hawks Boys Varsity with a time of 21:43 on
the scenic but difficult course. Greg Lund was the second Hawk with a time
of 23:53. Duane Hovde and Tyler VanDamme came in close together at 25:32
and 25:35. Derek Lindbom, Tim Gartman, and Jared Mahoney struggled with
the tough terrain near the end of the pack. In JV action, Luke Esanbock
turned in a respectable time of 23:48. Jerry Lindbom and AJ Hill met their
personal goals for the course with 27:01 and 28:05 respectively. Michael
Mentink endured the tortuous path with a gutsy effort that earned him an
applause at the end of the race.
The Hawks Girls Team was lead by Catherine Hennessy in the 4000 meter course with a good time of 21:02. She placed 24th overall in the meet, winning a ribbon for her effort. Heather Gunderson had a good run of 23:07, followed by Cassy DeMotts at 23:13 and Kristin Hovde at 23:18. Rachel Ungar and Hillary Lindbom rounded out the girls team. Hawks girls placed 8th overall in the meet, edging out the Mondovi girls. Somerset, Altoona, and Durand topped the team scores at the meet with first, second and third place.
New Richmond
In Boys Varsity action at New Richmond, the effects of the Durand hill
were shaken off by Aaron Peterson with a season PR of 20:35. Greg Lund
also improved dramatically with 21:38, followed by Nik Hovde (22:19), Derek
Lindbom (22:30), Tim Gartman (22:33), Tyler VanDamme (22:34) and Duane
Hovde (23:04). JV Boys were lead by Luke Esanbock at 23:23, followed by
Jared Mahoney (23:32), Michael Russett (23:32.04), Jerry Lindbom (25:58),
AJ Hill (26:20), and a remarkably improved time for Michael Mentink of
31:21.
With Hennessy sidelined with a sore hip, the BW girls at New Richmond were lead by Kristin Hovde at 20:05, nearly a three minute improvement from her Durand time. Heather Gunderson also improved with an excellent time of 20:42, followed by Rachel Ungar at 21:13, Hillary Lindbom at 25:43, and new team member Rachel Albrightson in her first meet ever at 25:48.
Mondovi
The Mondovi course proved more challenging this year with the of the
course across a big hill. Aaron Peterson lead the Hawks boys again with
a time of 21:35 but a somewhat disappointing place of 51 in 78 varsity
runners. Scott Scholmeyer, running for the first time in a week, was close
behind at 21:44. Luke Esanbock continued a steady improvement of his pace
with 22:26. Nik Hovde (22:58), Greg Lund (23:03), Derek Lindbom (23:07),
and Duane Hovde (25:14) rounded out the Hawks team. The boys edged out
Gilmanton for a 10th place in a field of eleven teams, topped by Colfax,
Arkansas-Durand, and Emmanuel Lutheran.
Fabian Knobloch, foreign exchange student ran his first meet for the
Hawks as a JV runner. He placed 11th in the JV race with a decent time
of 22:26. Michael Russett (24:37), Jerry Lindbom (25:04), and AJ Hill ran
well at 27:13, steadily improving their times. Michael Mentink rounded
out the JV team by steadily meeting his goal of 31:00 for the race.
Catherine Hennessy was back in action for the Hawks girls team, running a 19:30 for 26th place, just missing a ribbon. Kristin Hovde (20:52), Heather Gunderson (21:25), Cassy DeMotts (21:31), Rachel Ungar (21:32), Rachel Albrightson (22:56) and Hillary Lindbom (24:34), all improved their times from previous meets.
Osceola
Finally, the Hawks competed on the fast Osceola course on Saturday,
Sept 23, at the same site where Sectionals will be held in October.
Catherine Hennessy lead the girls with her best time this year at 18:57.
With Kristin Hovde absent, Rachel Ungar took up the slack with a respectable
20:00.8, nearly going under 20 minutes for the first time for Rachel. Cassie
DeMotts turned in a 20:04, also her best time by over a minute. Heather
Gunderson ran a 20:41, followed by Rachel Albrightson at 22:28.
In Boys racing, Aaron Peterson lead the Hawks with a 50th place finish of 19:35. Scott Scholmeyer followed closely with 19:36. This is the first time these runners have broken 20 minutes in the 5000 meter race, a milestone for runners who wish to be competitors. Great work, Aaron and Scott.
Freshmen Greg Lund nearly broke 20 minutes with a 20:13 in the race, a PR for Greg who has come a long way in the past two years as a runner. . Fabian Knobloch ran well as a Hawks varsity runner with 20:35. Freshmen Nik Hovde (21:03), Tim Gartman (21:05), and Tyler VanDamme (21:16) brought the Hawks to a 6th place finish in the meet, just ahead of Bloomer. The meet was won by New Richmond in first, Osceola in second, and Ellsworth in third.
In JV action, Luke Esanbock finished at 21:52, Michael Russett at 21:55, Derek Lindbom at 22:14, Duane Hovde AT 22:28. Jerry Lindbom (24:35), AJ Hill (26:28), and Michael Mentink (28:20) completed the course for the Hawks. Note that Freshmen Michael has reached his goal of breaking 30 minutes on a 5 k course, and has set a new goal of 25 minutes.
All in all, the young Hawks teams, Boys and Girls, are doing well this year. They are setting and attaining reachable goals, training hard, and looking forward to stronger performances in the future. Look for some strong Hawks Cross Country teams in the next few years as the young runners improve their times.