Sweeney wins, girls finish strong to win Mid State
Having the conference champion was only the start of the incredible efforts that propelled the Staples-Motley girls cross country to the Mid State Conference championship Oct. 10, in Park Rapids. S-M tied with Pequot Lakes so they had to go to the sixth place finisher, where Natalie Kleiberova provided the decisive place.
The boys team ran well but finished third behind two powerful teams.
The Cardinals also ran at Sauk Centre on Oct. 3, where both teams finished third, despite resting some of their varsity runners.
At the Mid State Conference meet, Sweeney battled back and forth with the state’s fourth-ranked runner from Park Rapids. They were close together with 400 meters left but Sweeney pulled away with a strong kick in the final 400 to win by six seconds.
Addison Lorber and Taylor Yungbauer both had amazing finishing sprints where they passed Pequot runners in the last 100 meters, gaining crucial points needed for the team to tie their rivals. Ameara Chenoweth ran a good race and Kaitlin Smith continued her season’s improvement to place near the top 20.
That left Staples-Motley and Pequot Lakes tied at 54, the team title came down to sixth runner from each team and S-M’s Kleiberova came through to place 26th, while Pequot’s sixth runner placed 39th. To top off the great team effort, Mackenzie Wilds finished in 28th place.
On the boys side, Emmet Anderson led the Cardinals with a fourth place finish overall as the Cardinal varsity scorers all finished in the top half of the race.
Boys results
Sauk Centre Invite
St. Cloud Cathedral 41, Melrose 88, Staples-Motley 98, Morris 119, Pierz 166, Royalton 174, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 197, St. John’s Prep 204, Osakis 206, Rocori 217, Sauk Centre 256
2. Emmet Anderson 17:19, 17. Tanner Robben 18:31, 18. Ben Bartczak18:32, 30. Coleman Klimek 19:27, 31. Jack Tyrrell 19:28, 38. Cael Sams 19:50, 41. Finn Erholtz 19:57
JV: 10. Bentley Christensen 20:00, 14. Isaac Christoffersen 20:20, 17. Nicholas Tabbatt 21:00, 21. Brayden Christensen 21:20, 26. Trenton Plopper 21:43, 42. Jacob Schmitz 22:36, 65. Dario Aportela 26:48
Jr. high: 5. Alex Vernon 11:48, 16. Connor Judd 12:50, 17. Austin Johnson 12:54, 37. Grant Johnson 13:49, 42. Alex Brings 14:05, 62. William Thew 16:11
Mid State Conference
Detroit Lakes 22, Pequot Lakes 63, Staples-Motley 88, Wadena-Deer Creek 105, Crosby-Ironton 113, Park Rapids 126, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 185
4. Anderson 17:40, 15. H. Klimek 18:32, 20. Bartczak 18:54, 23. Robben 19:05, 26. C. Klimek 19:20, 29. Bentley Christensen 19:23, 33. Tyrrell 19:30
JV: 5. Brayden Christensen 19:39, 11. Sams 20:28, 14. Erholtz 20:24, 16. Tabatt 20:50, 19. Christoffersen, 26. Plopper 21:57, 27. Schmitz 22:03, 38. Aportela 27:53
Jr. high: 2. Vernon 12:52, 11. Johnson 13:39, 30. Judd 15:26, 34. Brings 16:32, 40. Thew 17:54, 45. Kieran Groetsch 21:56
Girls results
Sauk Centre Invite
Osakis 75, Morris 78, Staples-Motley 95, St. Cloud Cathedral 98, Sauk Centre 105, Melrose 127, Rocori 136, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 213, St. John’s Prep 217, Pierz 257, Royalton 325
1. K. Sweeney 20:31, 11. A.Lorber 21:51, 17. A.Chenoweth 22:13, 25. Taylor Yungbauer 22:43, 41. M.Wilds 24:03, 44. Madysen Hull 24:15, 49. Mikayla Sauber 24:43
JV: 7. Abby Brown 25:27, 17. Jorie Ihme 26:40, 23. Julia Trantina 29:21
Jr. high: 1. Ashley Robben 12:57
Mid State Conference
Staples-Motley 54 (26), Pequot Lakes 54 (39), Park Rapids 66, Detroit Lakes 82, Wadena-Deer Creek 127, Crosby-Ironton 140, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 163
1. Sweeney 19:52, 7. Lorber 22:07, 11. Yungbauer 22:46, 13. Chenoweth 22:50, 22. Kaitlin Smith 23:38, 26. N. Kleiberova 24:07, 28. Wilds 24:22
JV: 1. Sauber 24:27, 3. Brown 25:46, 12. Ihme 26:49, 19. Hull 28:24, 21. Trantina 28:36
Jr. high: 4. Robben 14:26
