ABERDEEN — The Huron girls’ cross country team, which was fielding a full team in the girls’ varsity race for the first time this season, finished sixth in the Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet on Saturday at Lee Park Golf Course.

The Tigers finished with 170 points, which put them ahead of Pierre, which also finished at 170, Watertown at 192 and Mitchell, which didn’t have a complete team.

“I told the girls that we should be able to beat two teams for sure, and possibly a third,” Huron coach Angie Thomas said. “Well, they went out and got all three of those teams.”

Brandon Valley, which had three of the top four runners in the girls’ varsity race, won the team title with 22 points. Aberdeen Central was second at 55, followed by Yankton at 69, Brookings at 119 and Harrisburg at 138.  

Mia Wentzy won the girls’ varsity race for the Lynx in 18:29.02, while teammates Adison Scholten was second at 19:04.74. and Gracyn Gruber was fourth at 19:38.57. Thea Chance of Yankton was third at 19:37.60.

Victoriah Buffington led the Tigers with a time of 20:59.37 to finish 23rd, while Josie Vlieger, who moved up from the junior varsity, was 24th at 20:59.99.

“Tori Buffington had a good race. I would’ve liked to see her run another 20:40 like she did last week in Sioux Falls, but she still had a good race,” Thomas said. “Josie Vlieger ran another personal record this week, and she was just behind Tori at the finish. Josie has always had strong finishes, but now she’s adding a faster start to her races, and that’s really helping her times go down.”

Brooklyn Boetel was 39th for Huron at 21:47.09, while Hannah Schoenfelder and Tatum Peterson, who also moved up for the ESD Meet, were No. 44 and 45, respectively, with times of 23:06.04 and 23:26.92.

“Brooklyn Boetel was just off of her PR pace from last week to be the third Huron Tiger across the line,” Thomas said. “I would like to see Hannah and Tatum cut another two minutes from their time at state.”

The Huron boys’ team finished eighth in the varsity standing led by Cheech Harman, who turned in an effort to net All-ESD honors.

Brandon Valley finished with 57 points to edge Harrisburg by three points for the ESD title. Aberdeen Central was third at 63, followed by Pierre at 101 and Yankton at 102 to round out the top five.

Completing the field of teams were Brookings at 146, Watertown at 184, Huron at 186 and Mitchell at 257.

“I knew it was going to be tough for our boys as a team to beat anyone, but I told them it was definitely possible if everyone had the mentality of beating just one more runner,” Thomas said. “When I told the boys we beat Mitchell, but that Watertown beat us by two points, they were disappointed. Each of them made some sort of comment like, ‘I should’ve had that guy in front of me.’  Now they just need to get the ‘shoulda’s’ out of their heads and replace it with ‘I got that guy in front of me’.”

Britton Elkin of Brandon Valley won the boys’ varsity race in 15:54.79, while Josh Martin of Aberdeen Central was second at 16:09.27.

Harman finished 13th for the Tigers at 17:30.68, while TJ Lien was 29th at 18:07.11. Both were PRs.
“His goal for the season was to run a 17:30, so now it’s time for him to make a new goal,” Thomas said of Harman’s effort.

“Both those boys ran a great race today. I’m really proud of them,” she said. “They went out today and didn’t just run hard, they competed.”

Will Radke ran an 18:32.34 to finish 37th for Huron, while Cameron Cutshaw and Angel Olivo Porcayo were No. 53 and 54, respectively, with times of 19:43.07 and 19:45.63.57.

“Will Radke didn’t run as good as he did in Sioux Falls, but he still had a solid race,” Thomas said. “Cameron Cutshaw ran a PR today. He’s building more confidence with each race.”

Rounding out the lineup for Huron were Will Knippling, who was 57th at 20:30.56; and Gonzalo Quispe-Laura, who was 58th at 20:23.46.

The Tigers host the Roger Loecker Invitational on Thursday at Broadland Creek Golf Course before closing the season at the Class AA State Meet on Oct. 24 in Rapid City.  
 
Eastern South Dakota Conference Meet
Oct. 10 at Lee Park Golf Course in Aberdeen

Varsity Boys
Team scores: 1, Brandon Valley 57; 2, Harrisburg 60; 3, Aberdeen Central 63; 4, Pierre 101; 5, Yankton 102; 6, Brookings 146; 7, Watertown 184; 8, Huron 186; 9, Mitchell 257.

Individual results (top 5 and Huron runners): 1, Britton Elkin, BV, 15:54.79; 2, Josh Martin, AC, 16:09.27; 3, Daniel Street, AC, 16:24.85; 4, Samuel Conrad, B, 16:42.91; 5, Parker Fitzgerald, HA, 16:50.40; 13, Cheech Harman, HU, 17:30.68; 29, TJ Lien, HU, 18:07.11; 37, Will Radke, HU, 18:32.34; 53, Cameron Cutshaw, HU, 19:43.07; 54, Angel Olivo Porcayo, HU, 19:45.63; 57, Will Knippling, HU, 20:30.56; 58, Gonzalo Quispe-Laura, HU, 20:23.46.

Varsity Girls
Team scores: 1, Brandon Valley 22; 2, Aberdeen Central 55; 3, Yankton 69; 4, Brookings 119; 5, Harrisburg 138; 6, Huron 170; 7, Pierre 170; 8, Watertown 192.

Individual results (top 5 and Huron runners): 1, Mia Wentzy, BV, 18:29.02; 2, Addison Scholten, BV, 19:04.74; 3, Thea Chance, Y, 19:37.60; 4, Gracyn Gruber, BV, 19:38.57; 5, Melanie Jacobs, AC, 19:48.48; 23, Victoriah Buffington, HU, 20:59.37; 24, Josie Vlieger, HU, 20:59.99; 39, Brooklyn Boetel, HU, 21:47.09; 44, Hannah Schoenfelder, HU, 23:06.04; 45, Tatum Peterson, HU, 23:26.92.

Junior Varsity Boys
Team scores: 1, Brandon Valley 22; 2, Aberdeen Central 55; 3, Pierre 82; 4, Brookings 125; 5, Harrisburg 128; 6, Yankton 159; 7, Watertown 193.

Individual results (top 5 and Huron runners): 1, Luke Kocer, BV, 14:35.66; 2, Bradyn Brother of A, P, 14:48.87; 3, Mikah Peters, BV, 14:55.72; 4, Tino Lopez, AC, 14:57.66; 5, Camden Coughlin, BV, 15:02.08; 61, Alec Pester, HU, 17:54.54; 70, Angelo Medina, HU, 19:23.92; 71, Ben Ahlers, HU, 19:24.34.

Junior Varsity Girls
Team scores: 1, Aberdeen Central 35; 2, Brandon Valley 45; 3, Yankton 77; 4, Brookings 83; 5, Mitchell 128.

Individual results (top 5 and Huron runners): 1, Madison Pederson, BV, 17:19.25; 2, Chantel Bickler, BV, 17:26.86; 3, Hannah Sprecher, BV, 17:30.31; 4, Tara Jacobs, AC, 17:49.58; 5, Angelina Lopez, AC, 17:51.57.