170 varsity runners compete in meet at Cattail Crossing Golf Course
WATERTOWN — One hundred and seventy varsity runners from 11 schools, including host Watertown, competed Thursday in the Watoma Invitational cross country meet at the Cattail Crossing Golf Course.
The meet, the only home race of the season for the Arrows, also included a number of other junior varsity and middle school runners.
"We always look forward to our home meet," said Watertown head coach Jenn McElroy. "It's always nice to be home!"
The Arrows finished fifth (score of 146) out of nine teams in the girls division and seventh (score 174) out of 11 teams in the boys division. Pierre edged Brandon Valley 88-91 for the boys division title and Brandon Valley held of Harrisburg 27-34 for the girls division crown.
Aberdeen Central's boys were fourth (108) and girls sixth (166).
Senior Mia Wentzy of Brandon Valley cruised to victory in the girls' 5,000-meter race, posted a 20-second victory (19:03.70) over Harrisburg seventh-grader Hannah Genrich (19:23.91). There were 76 runners.
Pierre sophomore CJ Moses (16:00.95) beat senior teammate Jared Lutmer (16:00.95) to top a field of 94 runners.
The Arrows had two top-10 runners. Seventh-grader Grace McElroy took fifth (20:01.88) in the girls' race and freshman Dane Stark placed ninth (17:15.49) in the boys division.
"We're in the back half of the season and I thought we looked like we were a little tired today," said Coach McElroy. "There were some good moments in there. Dane finishing in the top 10 in a strong field of boys was good to see and Ben Peterson running really strong in his last home meet. We'll regroup this week and get ready for hopefully a strong showing at ESD."
The Eastern South Dakota Conference meet is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7 at Harrisburg. It is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
Boys Division Team Scores — Pierre 88, Brandon Valley 91, Sioux Falls Washington 99, Aberdeen Central 108, Brookings 113, O'Gorman 124, Watertown 174, Sioux Falls Jefferson 182, Harrisburg 187, Mitchell 286, Huron 315.
Top 10 Boys (94 Total Runners) — 1. CJ Moses, Pierre, 16:00.95; 2. Jared Lutmer, Pierre, 16:00.95; 3. Jack Castelli, O'Gorman, 16:43.68; 4. Mikah Peters, Brandon Valley, 16:46.56; 5. Cole Reilly, SF Washington, 16:48.10; 6. Kieran Weigelt, SF Jefferson, 17L:04.49; 7. Ernest Ting, Brookings, 17:08.92; 8. Evan Mahrous, O'Gorman, 17:12.84; 9. Dane Stark, Watertown, 17:15.49; 10. Caleb Morris, Pierre, 17;15.95.
Other Watertown Boys — 14. Ty Sullivan, 17:21.77; 46. Isaiah Norton, 18:50.;33; 58, Ben Peterson, 19:06.73; 61. Tucker Lunde, 19:08.74; 64. Bayley Steiner, 19:16.55; 66. Logan Becker, 19:19.20; 70. Gabe List, 19:45.45; 74, Chase Matthews, 19:53.31; 81. Ayden Steiner, 20:28.38.
Aberdeen Central Boys — 12. Joseph Perkins, 17:19.64; 16. David VanVeen, 17:03.50; 18. Tate DeVries, 17:35.55; 30. Esten Foss, 17:59.19; 34. Sam Schultz, 18:12.71; 35. Max Nelson, 18:13.43; 36. Patrick Severson, 18:14.05; 40. Carson Urlacher, 18:31.94; 63. Rylan Johnson, 19:14.61.
Girls Division Team Scores — .Brandon Valley 27, Harrisburg 34, O'Gorman 98, Pierre 121, Watertown 146, Aberdeen Central 166, Sioux Falls Washington 169, Huron 227, Mitchell 243.
Top 10 Girls (76 Total Runners) — 1. Mia Wentzy, Brandon Valley, 19:03.70; 2. Hannah Genrich, Harrisburg, 19:23.91; 3. Autumn Gilhooly, Harrisburg, 19:51.75; 4. Sarah VanDeBerg, Brandon Valley, 20:00.42; 5. Grace McElroy, Watertown, 20:01.88; 6. Lilian Rude, Brandon Valley, 20:05.90; 7. Shelby Bergan, Brandon Valley, 20:06.35; 8. Addison Reilly, Harrisburg, 20:06.44; 9. Emma Tidemann, Brandon Valley, 20:08.76; 10. Bria Miller, Harrisburg, 20:24.58.
Other Watertown Girls — 23. Kate McElroy, 21:37.08; 35. Jenny Bevers, 22:16.64; 42. Ellery Stark, 22:56.27; 53. Bella Horning, 23:43.93; 62. Lola Barrett, 24:08.37; 71. Elizabeth Rieffenberger, 25:22.65; 72. Abigail Reeves, 25:31.88.
Aberdeen Central Girls — 13. Juna Ramey, 20:47.75; 33. Alysaa Novstrup, 22:13.27; 38. Khloe Cochran, 22:23.23; 44. Morgan VanVeen, 23:L14.33; 52. Anneliese Miller, 23:42.75; 54. Liz Presler, 23:44.85; 55. Kylee Hanley, 23:46.41; 56. Isabelle Vrbka, 23:56.22; 58, Allison Brenner, 24:01.70; 59. Evelyn Novstrup, 24:02.57; 60. Elisa Schiferl, 24:02.74; 64. Angie Lopez, 24:25.96; 70. Scout Rosendahl, 25:06.24.
Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.
Watoma Invite Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/225081/info
Sisseton Invite
SISSETON — Deuel runners Jaycee Hourigan and Tyson Hagberg won individual races and led the Cardinals to a sweep of the team titles in the Sisseton Invitational on Thursday at the Valley View Country Club.
The meet included 10 girls and 18 boys runners.
Hourigan won the girls' 5,000 in 21:15.51 and Hagberg the boys' 5,000 in 19:58.66. Madison Zirbel of Waubay-Summit (girls, 21:50.39) and Caden Hourigan of Deuel (boys, 20:08.12) were runner-ups.
Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.
Sisseton Invite Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/229343/info
Lennox Invite
LENNOX — Milbank runners Ashlynn and James Batchelor and Payton Brown each recorded top-10 finishes in the Lennox Invite on Thursday at the Lennox Golf Course.
Ashlynn Batchelor took fourth out of 74 runners in the girls' 5,000 (19:02.31). Kinsey Evans of Chamberlain won the race in 18:35.56. Sioux Falls Christian rolled to the team title with a score of 25. Milbank was sixth at 96.
Brown placed sixth (16:48.78) and James Batchelor eighth (16:52.5) out of 89 runners in the boys' 5,000. Joe Cross of Dakota Valley won the race in 15:41.88. Sioux Falls Christian won the title with a score of 33. Milbank was fourth at 59.
Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.
Lennox Invite Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/225080/info
Colman-Egan Invite
COLMAN — Arlington's Kaelyn Ulschmid finished second in the girls division and Deubrook Area's Landen Johnson third in the boys division to lead area runners in the Colman-Egan Invite on Wednesday.
Emery Larson won the 45-runner girls' 5,000-meter race in 17:36.85, followed Ulschmid at 18:30.42. Emarie Vincent (19:53.67) took fifth and Madalyn Madsen (20:28.21) ninth for Arlington. Adalyn Gross of De Smet took sixth (20:03.94).
Caden Schwader of Howard topped a field of 57 runners to win the boys' 5,000 in 16:41.81, followed by Jeffery Boschee of Sanborn Central-Woonsocket (16:45.12) and Johnson (16:56.19). Connor Giedd of De Smet finished sixth (17:34.82).
Arlington's girls finished second and the boys fourth. Deuborok Area's boys placed third.
Complete results are available at www.athletic.net.
Colman-Egan Invite Results: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/227263/info
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highlights from Watertown's home meets and other area cross country meets
