Carson Urlacher was determined not to have a repeat of last year during the Sahli-Salmi Cross Country Meet Thursday morning at Lee Park Golf Course.
The Aberdeen Central runner led from start to finish on the way to winning the boys’ race by five seconds.
“I definitely didn’t want to lose this race again this year on a kick, so I just tried to get out pretty hard and just hold that pace the whole way,” Urlacher said. “It was a little hot and windy, so I wasn’t able to do it exactly as I wanted, but I got the win, so I can’t be too mad.”
As Urlacher closed in on the finish line, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure he would not get passed at the end in a repeat scenario of last season.
“I thought I had a decent gap,” Urlacher said, “I just wanted to make sure to not get passed in the final seconds of the race.”
There is no doubt that last year’s frustration fueled this season’s success for Urlacher.
“Last year I lost this meet by a couple seconds,” Urlacher said, “so I definitely didn’t want to lose it again this year, and I didn’t, so that motivated me a lot to not lose today.”
Urlacher led a strong delegation of Central runners on the day, as the Golden Eagles placed five runners among the top seven finishers.
Esten Foss, who has been battling illness to start the season, finished third followed by teammates Max Nelson in fifth, Kyson Fayant in sixth, and Eli Weinrich in seventh.
“I’ve been sick the last couple weeks,” Foss said. “It’s been hard to breathe during races, but this one kind of turned out well.”
Foss said with the warm and windy conditions, running a top time was improbable, so he focused on catching whoever was in front of him, which on this day was very few runners.
“A day like today you’re not going to PR,” Foss said, “so what’s more going through my mind is who I can get in front of me.”
Foss said the Golden Eagles will only get better from here as the season progresses.
“We haven’t even had an ideal workout schedule lately,” Foss said. “It’s been tough, so definitely going to build on that and get faster.”
Central boys’ coach Greg Murley was pleased with what he saw out of his runners at the meet.
“The thing about these kids, they hear me say this a lot, you get what you deserve,” Murley said. “More in this sport than any other sport.”
Murley noted the runners put in time and mileage during the offseason and that is paying dividends.
“They worked really hard five days a week this summer. They did what they needed to do,” Murley said. “Hopefully, come ESD time, hopefully come State time, we see some of that.”
Aberdeen Roncalli’s Ben Keller is turning his summer training into race results. The eighth-grader was the first Cavalier boys’ runner to cross the finish line.
“To Ben’s credit he logged the most miles,” said Roncalli coach Casey Steele. “He was the most consistent. He’s reaping the benefit from that.”
Keller had his own motivation, edging out teammate Cole Feickert by a single place.
“I saw him right behind me on some of the curves,” Keller said. “I just knew I had to push myself because he’d try and catch me.”
Keller talked about the challenges of training during the hot summer months to prepare for the season.
“It’s really pretty tough,” Keller said, “but once you get started you just have to keep going and keep your mind on if I keep doing this I’ll get a lot better.”
Pierre’s Emery Larson, defended her Sahli-Salmi title from last year. She once again got out fast and eventually pulled away from a pack of runners about a fifth of the way through the race.
“I’ve learned to not go out too hard and to go out with what I can (maintain),” Larson said, “and I think that’s helped me a lot grow as a runner and get better.”
While a handful of runners were able to keep up for a while, Larson knew she would eventually be able to pull away.
“Honestly, it’s all mental,” Larson said. “I know I’ve trained for this, so I know the physical part is there.”
Larson knew that times were going to be sub par for a variety of reasons and just focused on winning the race.
“I did have specific time goals going in, but on a windy and warm day like this, and when competition kind of hinders after the first 1K, it’s just hard to stick with those times,” Larson said. “So at the end of the day you just got to fight and it’s all from guts.”
Central’s Allie Novstrup was part of that lead pack for a while, but like the others was unable to maintain it as Larson pulled away.
“I was going to try to stay with her. It was harder than I expected because of the wind, and there was not many people on the other side, but I tried,” Novstrup said. “I went out hard. I try to stay with her as long as I can.”
Novstrup enjoyed running at home in front of family and friends.
“It pushes me for sure,” Novstrup said, “because I want to do good for them.”
Central girls’ coach Eric Pedersen said that Novstrup maintains a positive attitude while competing.
“Allie ran great. … She sets really good goals for herself,” Pedersen said, “and I think those things are awesome.”
One of those goals is to break the school record that belongs to Melanie Jacobs. Novstrup is six seconds off that pace.
Pedersen has been trying to encourage his runners to get out quicker at the start of races this season.
“That’s pretty common at the start of a cross country race where you’ve got plenty of girls up there,” Pedersen said, “but it’s who can maintain the test of the course type of thing.”
The Roncalli girls had a solid day with two runners among the top nine place winners led by Addison Cassady in seventh place. Taylor McComsey finished ninth.
“I wish my time would have been a little bit better from seeing how I finished, but I’m proud of how I did,” Cassady said. “I’m not very good in the heat.”
Cassady, who will run next week at Lee Park during the Roncalli Invitational, still enjoyed her experience despite the elements.
“I like this course, because it feels like home,” Cassady said. “You get to run it twice a year, which you don’t really do a lot. I like running here. It makes me happy.”
Steele said he was not overly concerned with times during the meet. He recalled running at Lee Park when he was in high school and college.
“The course always seems to be about a minute slower here,” Steele said. “Sometimes it’s a softer surface and that slows things down, there’s lots of turns, and some little bumps.”
He said the Cavaliers are focused on doing what they can to ensure they run their best when it matters most this fall.
“Our goal is to peak and taper right at the end of the season,” Steele said, “so we can pop our fastest times at the regional meet and get kids to Huron for the state meet.”
To see complete meet results, click on the following link:
