HURON — A deep field of competitors, from across the state, took to the Broadland Creek Golf Course Saturday morning, for the 57th Annual Clyde Cotton Huron Invitational Cross Country Meet.
A thunderstorm pushed the start time back on hour, but left cool, breezy conditions that the runners enjoyed.
Team titles on the day went to Aberdeen Central in the varsity and junior varsity girls’ races, while Sioux Falls Washington doubled up on both of the boys’ races.
Pierre earned titles in the boys’ and girls’ middle school divisions.
Varsity girls
Aberdeen Central took the girls’ varsity with 54 points to outdistance runner-up Brandon Valley’s 73.
Ellie Abraham of Brookings won the individual title with a time of 18:35.53, nearly 30 seconds ahead of Central’s Melanie Jacobs. Haylee Waterfall of Brandon Valley ran third.
Huron didn’t have a full team for the girls’ varsity race, but saw lead runner Sami Shoultz run a new personal best time of 20:41.03. Teammate Jordan Adams also “PR’d” in 22:29.89.
“Earning these personal bests is a huge accomplishment,” said Huron coach Angie Thomas. “Sami had a tough week in practice, so this will be a big confidence builder for her. Jordan’s previous best was last year at state, so this is a good measuring stick and confidence boost as well.”
Varsity boys
Washington’s win in the boys race was closer, as the Warriors edged Custer by 13 points, 48-61. Custer’s Joe Rush finished in a rush, breaking the tape in a time of 16:10.23, a dozen seconds ahead of Bonheur Mvuyekure of Washington.
Huron’s Frank Hines finished in a time of 18:58.88, which, according to Thomas is a PR for the Broadland Creek course and his personal best this season.
“Frank had a strong finish,” Thomas said. “But I truly believe that he could go out a little faster in his races.”
JV girls
Aberdeen Central’s win in the JV girls’ race was even tighter, as they edged a deep S.F. O’Gorman team 37-41. Custer got its second individual win of the day, as Ramsey Karim covered the 4,000 meter course in 16:21.20, with a 33-second cushion over Aby Lang of Central.
Huron’s Alexis Feenstra finished 15th in the 80-runner field, earning a medal and clocking yet another personal best for the Tigers. “Alexis ran a great race. We’re looking for a higher gear in her to finish strong, but I am very proud of the race she ran today.”
Victoriah Buffington saw her first JV action on Saturday and impressed her coach with her 18th place finish. And Bella Shreeve ran a great race as well, according to Thomas, finishing in 23rd and chopping 30 seconds off her time from this same race last year.
JV boys
Washington’s team winning margin was four team points over Aberdeen Central, 36-40, and Harrisburg was third.
Connor Davis won the individual title for Washington, with a time of 14:16.84. Lucas Moller ran second for Mitchel and Jared Loecker of Central was third.
Huron’s Will Radke finished 45th in the 78-runner field, taking more than a minute off his previous best 4K time, according to Thomas.
“Will is only an eighth grader, but he is showing a lot of potential,” she added. “He’s a hard worker who is also playing football, but he always gets his cross country workout in.”
Spencer LaFortune finished 63rd for Huron, Cole Wolff was 73rd and Shelby Vanden Hoek finished 78th.
Middle school
In the middle school girls’ race, Peyton Schock (79th) and Tatum Peterson (83rd) were the first two Tigers across the finish line in the 141 runner, 2,500 meter field.
Varsity - 5K
Girls’ Team Scores
1 Aberdeen Central 54; 2 Brandon Valley 73; 3 Custer 88; 4 RC Central 139; 5 SF Washington 146; 6 SF O’Gorman 153; 7 Brookings 171; 8 Pierre T.F. Riggs 194; 9 Flandreau 198; 10 Sturgis Brown 203; 11 Watertown 284; 12 Harrisburg 289.
Individuals - (91 runners, Top 20 and Huron runners)
1 Abraham, Ellie Brookings 18:35.53; 2 Jacobs, Melanie Aberdeen Central 19:04.56; 3 Waterfall, Haylee Brandon Valley 19:17.60; 4 Bennett, Kylee Sturgis Brown 19:19.38; 5 Kost, Delaney RC Central 19:24.51; 6 Delmont, Mallory Custer 19:27.94; 7 Wieman, Alissa Douglas 19:38.30; 8 Wells, Lauren Brandon Valley 19:52.65; 9 Douglas, Zoe Aberdeen Central 19:56.25; 10 Hursey, Madeline Flandreau 19:57.51; 11 Hermansen, Jordan Aberdeen Central 19:58.86; 12 Dooley, Kadense Custer 19:59.10; 13 Althoff, Olivia SF O’Gorman 20:00.94; 14 Miller, Trinity Aberdeen Central 20:06.94; 15 Hardie, Alea SF O’Gorman 20:08.58; 16 Carlsen, Tayler Custer 20:11.35; 17 Flute, Sinona Flandreau 20:14.45; 18 DeBeer, Kayla SF Washington 20:16.09; 19 Lather, Sydney SF Washington 20:16.41; 20 Wentzy, Katie Brandon Valley 20:17.94;
32 Shoultz, Samantha Huron 20:41.03;
72 Adams, Jordan Huron 22:29.89
Boys Team Scores
1 SF Washington 48; 2 Custer 61; 3 Aberdeen Central 89; 4 SF O’Gorman 102; 5 Brandon Valley 148; 6 Harrisburg 168; 7 Sturgis Brown 184; 8 Pierre T.F. Riggs 207; 9 RC Central 217; 10 Douglas 265; 11 Watertown 287.
Individuals - (97 runners, top 20 plus Huron runners)
1 Rush, Joe Custer 16:10.23; 2 Mvuyekure, Bonheur SF Washington 16:22.01; 3 Harrison, Jackson Aberdeen Central 16:23.05; 4 Ryan, Aaron Aberdeen Central 16:48.65; 5 Zahn, Christopher SF Washington 16:53.62; 6 Pierson, Dylan SF O’Gorman 16:55.15; 7 Bita, Merci SF Washington 16:55.41; 8 Youngblood, Nathaniel Custer 16:58.59; 9 Elkin, Britton Brandon Valley 16:59.31; 10 Larson, Cody Warner 17:05.71; 11 Wilson, Jackson Douglas 17:12.71; 12 Wahlstrom, Ben Custer 17:19.16; 13 Moehlman, Calvin RC Central 17:19.84; 14 Cheever, Eli Brandon Valley 17:22.37; 15 Wirth, Michael Warner 17:23.41; 16 Mohamud, Ayub SF Washington 17:24.15; 17 Oesterling, Max Custer 17:25.33 ; 18 Andersen, Nate Sturgis Brown 17:32.64; 19 Knapp, Noah Aberdeen Roncalli 17:32.85; 20 Lusk, Caleb Pierre T.F. Riggs 17:35.36;
65 Hines, Frank Huron 18:58.88
Junior Varsity 4K
Girls Team Scores
1 Aberdeen Central 37; 2 SF O’Gorman 41; 3 Custer 73; 4 Brookings 104; 5 Harrisburg 136; 6 Watertown 159; 7 Flandreau 185.
Individuals - (80 runners, top 20 plus Huron runners)
1 Karim, Ramsey Custer 16:21.90; 2 Lang, Aby Aberdeen Central 16:54.13; 3 Thompson, Grace Aberdeen Central 17:04.52; 4 Waage, Grace SF O’Gorman 17:14.00; 5 Harrison, Estelle Aberdeen Central 17:14.97; 6 Hanson, Caitlyn Brandon Valley 17:15.48; 7 Hericks, Abby SF O’Gorman 17:15.75; 8 Olsen, Kennedy Mitchell 17:22.57; 9 LeBlanc, Makenzie Douglas 17:29.34; 10 Theobald, Maggie SF O’Gorman 17:30.89; 11 Dvorak, Josie Custer 17:33.47; 12 Wika, Brooke Brookings 17:34.37; 13 Hunt, Tabitha SF O’Gorman 17:34.59; 14 Schmidt, Anna Aberdeen Roncalli 17:34.87; 15 Feenstra, Alexis Huron 17:42.69; 16 Struble, Hannah Aberdeen Central 17:47.04; 17 Kranz, Amara Watertown 17:50.94; 18 Buffington, Victoriah Huron 17:51.89; 19 Hendrick, Hannah Brandon Valley 18:06.88; 20 Vroman, Anna SF Washington 18:07.12;
23 Shreeve, Isabella Huron 18:14.84;
Photos by Angelina Della Rocco of the plainsman
Huron’s Sami Shoultz forges ahead of a Pierre runner near the finish line at the Clyde Cotton Huron Invitational Cross Country Meet on Saturday morning, at Broadland Creek Golf Course. Huron’s Will Radke runs down Lars Dailey of Flandreau at the finish of the boys’ 4K JV race Saturday.
