Watford Cross Country teams take third at Tioga meet
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
With a young team out for Cross Country this year, Greg Brown, Watford City’s head Cross Country coach, knew that this would be a growing year for his athletes. But as this season has unfolded, he is more and more confident that his runners will be ready to compete at the State Meet.
And his confidence only grew as the teams took third place at the Tioga Meet on Sept. 15, and then the girls took eighth and the boys eleventh at Saturday’s meet in Bismarck.
“Last week was a tough week with our meet setup,” stated Brown. “We ran a hilly course on Thursday in Tioga that also had high winds, and then we ran a flat course on Saturday in Bismarck. Both meets worked really well together to get us prepared for the State Meet.”
At the Tioga Meet, Guy Ross was the top finisher for the Wolves with a 22nd place finish in a time of 19:50, while Dustin Kleppen finished in 25th place with a time of 20:02.
Also placing for the boys team was John Meuchel, 35th, 21:05; and Logan Gumke, 36th, 21:07.
In the girls division, Asha Smith took fourth place with a time of 16:58, while Kade Ross came in ninth with a time of 17:37.
Also placing in the girls division was Addison Sundeen, 17th, 18:12; Lea Arndt, 27th, 19:05; Tara Loomer, 30th, 19:23; and Bessie Schmitz, 35th, 19:38.
In the boys junior high division, Devin Schmitz took 24th with a time of 14:55 and Hunter DeFoe took 25th with a time of 14:56.
Bismarck Meet
The Watford City Cross Country girls team finished in eighth place while the boys team came in 11th at the Bismarck Meet on Saturday at the McDowell Dam.
Asha Smith led the girls’ team with a 12th place finish with a time of 15:52. Other finishers were Addison Sundeen, 53rd, 17:30; Lea Arndt, 54th, 17:31; Tara Loomer, 71st, 18:07; and Bessie Schmitz, 78th, 18.33.
Guy Ross paced the boys’ team with a 56th place finish with a time of 19:04. Other finishers were Dustin Kleppen, 61st, 19:13; Logan Gumke, 79th, 20:16; and John Meuchel, 80th, 20.18.
In the junior high division, Devin Schmitz placed 36th with a time of 13:27 and Hunter DeFoe was 51st with a time of 14:47.
“The athletes are continuing to get better as the season is progressing along,” states Brown. “We are starting to see good things happen with both teams. Soon we will start backing off in practices and get their legs prepared for the State Meet, which has been moved to Fargo this year because of flooding in Valley City.”
The Wolves will next be competing at the Beulah-Hazen Invite at the Black Sands Golf Course in Beulah on Saturday.