The Ranger cross country athletes are rounding
into great shape when it matters the most; running exceptionally well at the Pre-Region meet in Lead and the Sturgis Invitational.
On Tuesday, the Runnin’ Rangers traveled
to Lead to race on the course that will be home to the Region 5A meet just two weeks away.
Several athletes had personal bests or breakthrough performances. Andy
Coy won for the fourth time this season, breaking 17 minutes on the tough Tomahawk Country Club course, running 16:54. Nash Koel had another consistent race, running tough for a Top 20 finish (17th)
and a personal best. Kyle Alexander was right behind in 19th place
with a huge breakthrough performance and a 20 second personal best. Franky Torres
and Tayden Welsch crossed in 29th and 30th place to finish as the number four and five Rangers. Tyler Triplett ran tough again, finishing in 37th place, followed by Thomas
Nimick in 48th and Forrest King at number 60. Cassidy Hart was the
lone girl competitor and ran very well, despite being sick and finished in a season best time (18:04) in 20th place.
Thursday, Mariah Asheim ran in her first race
this season, finishing 8th in a high powered JV race that included all of the area AA schools. The middle school athletes raced later in the day. Jared Weitzel
continued his strong season and placed 15th in the 8th grade race.
The 6th and 7th grade races were gigantic, with over 100 runners in each race. Leading the way for the girls was Jennifer Qualm, finishing 18th, running a great second half
of the race. Michal Wiederhold started well and was close behind in 22nd
for the middle school girls. In the 6th and 7th grade boy’s
race, Bradly Hanson ran a strong race from the gun, finishing in 30th place.
Brandon King, Jake Dewsbury, Randy Wills and Austin Verbeck waged a great battle throughout the race and finished in
50th, 54th, 56th and 58th respectively.
Justin Lewis found another gear again and was 91st in the 120 person race.
The Rangers will race in the Black Hills Conference
Meet in Custer on Thursday.
