There is more to a cross country race than conditioning and perseverence.
Aberdeen Central’s Tate DeVries turned a pre-race strategy into a hard-fought victory during the annual Sahli-Salmi Cross Country Invitational Thursday morning at Lee Park Golf Course.
The Central junior was able to outrun Watertown’s Dane Stark at the finish to capture the boys’ victory by slightly more than a second.
“That was a fun one. He’s a great runner,” DeVries said. “I knew it was going to come down to the kick and I tried to end it early, about the back half of the course, and I was able to execute that pretty well.”
DeVries trailed Stark in the early stages of the race. That was also a part of his strategy.
“The first mile or so I just tried to let him do most of the work, and I just tried to tuck in and kind of hold on,” DeVries said. “Then coming through the first K, I felt a lot better than I thought I would, so kind of made a little bit of a move and put some distance early on him.”
DeVries wanted to prevent the end of the race coming down to a sprint at the finish and ended up clocking at time of 15:52.50.
“We talked a little bit about the back half of the race,” said Central coach Eric Pedersen. “Dane Stark, he’s got a good kick. He’s a sub 1:56 800 runner, so he’s got a good kick. Tate kind of talked about that, too, about opening it up on the back half over there so he couldn’t leave it to the kick, and he did a good job with that. Anytime for him to go sub-16 on this course is pretty fantastic.”
DeVries said running on his home course not only gave him a boost of energy at the closing stretch, it also alerted him to how close Stark was behind him.
“Coming down the home stretch I heard everyone get pretty loud and knew he was coming,” DeVries said, “and I just tried to pull away.”
DeVries recently finished eighth at the prestigious Augie Twilight and is looking forward to a rematch against some of those same runners in the near future.
“Coming off of Augie, a top-10 finish there was pretty surreal,” DeVries said. “I’m looking forward to two weeks when we go up to Grand Forks to race the Border Battle. Some of those same guys are going to be up there, so looking to kind of have a target on their back and go try to get some vengeance.”
Central’s Max Nelson was third in the boys’ race. The senior did his best to keep up with the race leaders.
“My strategy was just to stick with them as long as I could,” Nelson said, “and that’s what I did today.”
Nelson focused on DeVries and Stark, rather than on the rest of the pack of runners behind them.
“I knew there was people behind me,” Nelson said. “I was more focused on the front view than the back view, just continue pushing forward as hard as I could.”
Nelson covered the distance in a time of 17:07.15.
“I was trying to stick around that 17-minute mark like I did last year,” Nelson said, “so that I can continue to excel through the rest of the season.”
Nelson ended up in a space all to himself, running in a gap behind the leaders and well in front of the others.
“He ran a lot of that race by himself, which can be tough. For him, he kept that compsure,” Pedersen said. “I was hollering at him on the back ends to close the gaps up a little bit and all that space counts. I thought he ran a really complete race, especially for being by himself.”
Like other runners on the day, Nelson said the most challenging part of the race was the back stretch, away from all of the spectators.
When asked what he thought about during that stretch, Nelson responded “Sometimes nothing, sometimes just making it to the finish line as fast as you can. The quicker you run, the sooner you’re done.”
Seventh-grader Ben Weigel led the Roncalli boys with an 11th place finish.
After going unbeaten in middle school races last season, Weigel now finds himself competing against accomplished varsity runners.
“It’s a big jump,” Weigel said. “I try to get up there at the start and set my pace to be able to get in a good position.”
Weigel clocked a time of 18:55.67 right around his goal for the season.
“My main goal at the end of the year is 18:30,” Weigel said. “Last week was my first 5K and today I ran 18:55, so I think I can build off that.”
Despite his small size, Weigel is able to use his grit and determination to keep up with much taller foes.
“He just has that mentality, he’s going to look across the line and everyone’s probably taller than him, but you know what, he probably has the biggest dog in the fight,” said Roncalli coach Taylor Thorson. “That’s how he is in practices, that’s how he is in workouts, and it’s showing on the course.”
While only in his first year of varsity, Weigel is hoping to help lead the other runners on the squad accomplish a team goal.
“I just feel like if we all work together we could as a team make it to state,” Weigel said. “That’s our final goal.”
Thorson pointed out the efforts of the other Cavaliers, especially when it comes to their leadership roles on the squad.
“Those other boys too, they’re pushing each other and they’re all three being really good mentors to Ben and the stuff that he doesn’t know,” Thorson said, “because this is his first year on the varsity.”
Watertown’s Grace McElroy won the girls’ race, bolting off the starting line in a burst of energy and never trailing in the event.
“Most of my races I just run,” McElroy said. “I don’t really have a goal, I just go out there and do my best.”
The sophomore won the event by more than 20 seconds. She said she didn’t know exactly how far the second place runner was behind her.
“I was kind of nervous,” McElroy said, “but I just focused on my race, because I know that if you look back, that can kind of be mentally deflating.”
Central sophomore Allie Novstrup owned that second place position and finished runner-up well ahead of the rest of the field.
“I was trying to keep my own pace and not try to get too wrapped up in what other people were doing, because I know where I need to be,” Novstrup said. “I don’t like to start too fast, otherwise I will panic and I’ll slow down.”
Novstrup did not get caught up in the pace set by McElroy.
Unlike track and field where benchmarks are obvious, it can be a bit more challenging out on a golf course.
“It is pretty tough mentally to know exactly where you should be at,” Novstrup said. “I try to go based off of how I feel on the first lap, try to make sure I’m not feeling too uncomfortable so that I can kind of get faster as I go instead of slowing down.”
Novstrup clocked a time of 19:36.31, but she said she is more concerned with placement than times this season.
“I started this season trying to run for a time, but now I’m really just focusing on place,” Novstrup said, “because in the end, every course is different and times will vary, so I’m just trying to uphold the place where I am at.”
Pedersen said that Novstrup’s ability to stay within reach of McElroy, a quality Eastern South Dakota Conference runner, was something that was noteworthy.
“Last year we looked at some of the times and stuff, and she ran a really strong race today,” Pedersen said of Novstrup. “Talked a lot about having some confidence. The Watertown girl is a pretty solid runner, so for Allie to be within that little bit of her too, was really solid, because that’s ultimately where we want to be at for our ESD competition.”
Aberdeen Roncalli, which was running short-handed, was led by Taylor McComsey who finished sixth in the girls’ race against a field loaded with Class AA runners.
“I was just trying to keep with some of the girls in front me, because I know they’re AA,” McComsey said. “They obviously have some faster times, just trying to pace myself with them and get through the whole race.”
The eighth-grader said a key was fighting her way through the backstretch without the support of anyone around.
“I was just trying to mentally be good on the backstretch,” McComsey said, “because I know that there’s not a lot of people back there.”
McComsey got off to a solid start and was able to maintain her position throughout the race.
“Taylor ran really well today. She got out real aggressively,” said Roncalli coach Casey Steele. “We’d like her to hold back a little bit, but I love her competitive spirit.”
Roncalli was without top runners Addison Cassady and Hazel Kannegieter because of a scheduling conflict, but McComsey was able to adjust just fine.
“They key off of each other. We know that Addison’s going to be up front and then we’ve got the pack and then it slips out as the race unfolds,” Steele said. “I think she was really concerned, but she really handled herself well in that situation.”
Hannah Eskro finished with 14th for the Cavaliers.
“Hannah Eskro, geez a little seventh-grader, what a surprise she is,” Steele said. “She’s working hard and she wants to be with the big girls. She’s getting it done nicely.”
Roncalli hosts its own invitational next Thursday at Lee Park.
To see complete results, click on the following link:
