Ready for take off at the Moorhead meet were boy’s cross country runners, front row, left to right: Brandon Sterriker, Blake Miller, Justin Ziegler. Back: Trevor Hofmann, Jordan Heldman, Korey Zetah, Ryan Trout, Colon Tietz, Tyler Pogreba, Paul Plenvey. (Photo by Bruce Fuhrman) The Cardinal Boys Cross Country team started out the season in a tough way at the Shocky Strand Invitational in Moorhead. Heat and tough competition challenged the boys and they took ninth in a field of eleven teams. Moorhead took the title with 47 points and the runners from Perham were close behind in second place.

“It was a tough race for our boys as dehydration became a major problem. We had a number of athletes slow their race. The boys need to stay hydrated,” remarked Coach Bruce Fuhrman, “It is as simple as that and we will need to watch this in the future.”

Pacing the Cardinal team were returning letter winners Justin Ziegler, Blake Miller and Korey Zetah. Tyler Pogreba, Jordan Heldman, Brandon Sterricker, Ryan Trout, Trevor Hofmann and Tony Caudillo completed the varsity pack.

Although the boys’ finishes were a

little rough, all of them ran strong in

the first mile, Fuhrman said, adding “Each of our nine boys were working

on pacing their first mile and did a very good job to this point. It is then that the heat began to take its toll on our runners.”

The Cardinal JV is looking for some more athletes to join the running program when school starts. Fuhrman said that interested students can contact him at 218-894- 2170, or simply come to practice after school at the football field.

1. Moorhead, 47 2. Perham, 53 3. Willmar, 89 4. Bemidji, 91 5. Fergus Falls, 124 6. Detroit Lakes, 134 7. Thief River Falls, 147 8. Park Rapids Area, 237 9. Staples Motley, 277 10. TrekNorth, 293 11. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 302

45. Justin Ziegler, 19:37.40; 64. Blake Miller, 20:46.48; 67. Korey Zetah, 21:08.39; 74. Tyler Pogreba, 21:40.42; 77. Jordan Heldman, 23:10.06; 81. Brandon Sterricker, 24:02.44; 82. Ryan Trout, 24:13.10 84. Trevor Hofmann, 24:24.74; 88. Tony Caudillo, 30:25.64