Miller seniors lead area runners into Class A meet

HURON A pair of Miller seniors will be looking to close their high school careers by earning all-state honors at the Class A State Cross Country Meet, which will be held today at Hart Ranch in Rapid City.

The Class A girls race begins at 12:30 p.m. MT, while the Class A boys race is slated for 1:30 p.m. MT.

Leading the Rustlers in the boys race will be Pierce Baumberger, who finished fourth in last years state meet as a junior.

Baumberger is the highest finishing returning runner in the Class A field, but has his work cut out for him heading into this years event.

Baumberger is the No. 13-seed entering todays event with a time of 16:31.68.

Senior Jack Brown of Dakota Valley is the top seed with a time of 15:44.28, while Sean Shipp of Custer is the second seed at 15:45.93.

Madeline Nye of Miller is in contention to snag a spot in the top 25 of the Class A girls race. She is seeded No. 18 going into the event with a time of 19:10.39.

Junior Ellie Maddox of Sioux Falls Christian holds the top seed with a time of 17:26.19, while teammates Sadie Petterngill (freshman) and Natalie Smith (junior) are seeded second and third, respectively, with times of 17:28.23 and 17:52.05.

Also in contention for earning a top-25 finish to earn all-state honors is freshman Kamryn Nesheim of Clark/Willow Lake, who is seeded No. 19 with a time of 19:14.56.

Nesheim earned all-state honors a year ago be finishing 11th in the Class A girls race.

Rounding out the lineup for Clark/Willow Lake at this years event will be eighth-grader Jennifer Bevers (20:24.02); seventh-grader Faith Roehrich (20:35.65); junior Cadence Bochek (20-56.26; and sophomore Hadley Gjerde (21:40.47).

Nye will be joined at the state meet by Rustler teammates junior Gabby Wrdel (21:12.34; seventh-grader Morah Swartzendruber (23:14.50; seventh-grader Quinn Hurd (23:29.97); seventh-grader Brystal Wallman (24:00.25); and sophomore Allie Gortmaker (24:08.48).

Joining Baumberger in the boys race for Miller will be junior Isaiah Gortmaker (18:33.15).

Also competing in the boys race will be junior Will Hovde of Clark/Willow Lake (19.41.29).

Sioux Falls Christian, which has four of the top five runners in the Class A girls race, is the defending Class A girls champion.
Hill City is the defending Class A boys champion.