September 23, 2009

Wolves compete at Valley City Cross Country Meet

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s cross country teams got a preview of the competition that will be running at this year’s State Class B Cross County Meet as the Wolves traveled to Valley City on Saturday. Valley City will be hosting the State Meet on Oct. 24.
“Our boys and girls ran extremely well in Valley City,” stated Greg Brown, Wolves’ head coach. “I thought that our legs were going to be tired from pushing so hard in practice the week before the meet, but they all responded extremely well to the training.”
While neither the boys nor the girls teams competed with a full squad of five runners at Valley City, Brown feels confident that with a full slate of runners, the Watford City girls team will be very competitive at State.
“When we add our fifth runner to the girls team, we will be extremely tough at State as long as we stay healthy and keep working hard like we currently are,” states Brown. “There are not enough praise words to give this team of boys and girls on how hard they are working and how well they are doing at the meets.”
In the varsity boys division, which had 253 competitors, Jeremiah Beard placed 145th for the Wolves with a time of 21:08, while Ben Gumke   placed 205th in a time of 22:33.
In the junior high boys division, which had 129 runners, Logan Gumke placed 64th with a time of 13:16 and Riley McCarthy placed 83rd with a time of  13:51.
Sibee Jokela and Kade Ross paced the Wolves in the varsity girls division, which saw 224 runners from across the state competing.
Jokela finished in sixth place with a time of 16:23 while Ross finished in seventh place with a time of 16:24.
Also placing for Watford City was Stephanie Deutsch, 18th, with a  time of 16:59 and Kristen Stenehjem, 26th with a time of 17:25.
The next action for the cross country team will be on Thursday, Oct. 1 when the Wolves travel to Williston. According to Brown, the Wolves will not be competing in the Rugby Meet on Oct. 3 as earlier planned.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER