Their methods were different, but the results were exactly the same Thursday morning at Lee Park Golf Course.
Addison Cassady of Aberdeen Roncalli, and Milbank’s Jeter Scoular won their respective races in much different fashion during the Roncalli Invitational cross country meet. Cassady preferred to hold back at the beginning, while Scoular set the tone from the opening gun.
“I do like to start slower and get progressively faster,” Cassady said, “so when girls start really fast, I like to just hang on, but not be right up with them, because I know that doesn’t work well for me.”
Instead, the junior was running her own pace, and then decided to pick things up a bit in the middle of the race.
“I think I was telling myself that I was settling a little bit, and I was like, no I can’t settle,” Cassady said. “I’ve got to give my all, so I can give glory to God.”
Cassady finished in front of a pair of Northwestern runners. Brenna Halverson was runner-up with teammate Rachel Melius in third.
The two girls are battling to be the team’s top runner, now that defending state champion Ella Boekeheide graduated last spring.
“It’s a little stressful,” Halverson said of the competition with Melius, “because I’m suppose to beat her, but we’re pretty even.”
Halverson said she attempts to get stronger as the race wears on.
“I just hunt down the people in front of me,” Halverson said, “stride at the end, and then push.”
Halverson’s day was just getting started at the meet. She was preparing to play in a volleyball match on Thursday night. The backrow player said she likes one sport more than the other.
“I like volleyball,” Halverson said. “I like the way it’s played.”
Roncalli won the girls’ team championship, with Northwestern finishing second.
“Winning this meet is such a big deal for us,” said Roncalli coach Taylor Thorson, “not only athletes, but as coaches to see where we’re at in the middle of the season.”
Thorson noted that Hazel Kannegieter and Hannah Eskro were able to pass runners at the finish to help the Cavaliers win the team crown.
“Hazel and Hannah really did that well,” Thorson said, “that task at hand that we gave them.”
Thorson has been emphasizing toughness this fall, and said that one runner in particular is the epitome of that toughness.
“I really want to give a shout out to Hannah Eskow,” Thorson said. “She might be the toughest one out of that bunch, and she’s just a seventh grader. Everything we ask her to do, she does and more, and that’s showing on the course.”
Clara Herreid was the lone Aberdeen Christian runner in the varsity race. The sophomore said she would like to finish races better.
“The first half of the race is good,” Herreid said, “and it’s always the second half that gets me.”
Herreid said the battle is more mental than it is physical.
“I know I can do it physically,” she said. “I hit this mental block.”
Knights coach Adam Franken is confident that Herreid will be able to get over that mental hump.
“I know she’s got it in her, and we’ll get past it,” Franken said. “She wants to, and that’s a big part of it. She’s got her goals and works for those every meet.”
Scoular led from start to finish on the way to winning the boys’ race.
“I just try and get out strong, throughout the middle just try and keep it up, and then sometime towards the end, just try and turn on the after burners, and see how quick I can go,” Scoular said.
Scoular pulled away from Deuel’s Caden Hourigan down the stretch to win the race by nearly 20 seconds.
“We were on the back somewhere and my coach told me I have to start going now,” Scoular said, “so I started going a little bit, and it worked out.”
After finishing 14th at state a year ago, Scoular has a bigger goal in mind his senior season.
“My goal is at state, go and try and get top five,” Scoular said.
When asked what it will take to do that, Scoular responded, “Keep putting in the work, trust my coaches, and give it my all.”
Joseph Richards of Christian ran with the lead pack for a while and ended up taking seventh place in the race.
“It does give me confidence to push harder,” Richards said of staying near the leaders, “and knowing I can do better at state.”
Richards lowered his time from his last race and the sophomore said the competition had a lot to do with it.
“This race helped a lot,” Richards said. “There was a lot more competition I could stick with.”
Richards and teammate Andrew Schwab have been pushing each other this season to make each other better.
“Both our varsity boys are running well this year,” Franken said. “They’re older, stronger, you can really tell in their races.”
Franken said it begins at practice and then carries over to the races.
“It all starts with practice and the training,” Franken said. “They put in a lot of work and a lot of effort to be where they’re at.”
Roncalli’s Ben Weigel finished in eight place, right behind Richards.
The seventh grader had a 22-second improvement from his race a week ago on the same course. Weigel said there were multiple reasons for that.
“I think it was good competition, the weather was a little chillier today, and I ran the course last week,” Weigel said.
Weigel led a strong team effort by the Cavaliers, and he was quick to point out the role of his older teammates.
“I think my teammates help me do that by pushing me in practice, also,” Weigel said.
Nearly every Roncalli runner had a personal record on the day.
“I was just really thrilled with the boys’ effort. We had several PRs by kids,” said Roncalli coach Casey Steele. “This isn’t necessarily a PR course. It’s a great course. We love running here, but Ben Weigel, holy cow. He was tenacious. All of our top four boys ran PR efforts today.”
What makes that team performance even more impressive is that the Cavaliers are coming off a hard week of training, according to Steele.
“We thumped the kids this week in practice,” Steele said. “We knew we were coming into this meet tired and they still gave that nice effort. … A nice day for the Cavaliers.”
To see complete meet results, click on the following link:
