October 13, 2015

Girls take second, boys take fifth at Region Cross Country Meet

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Having Watford City’s Asha Smith and Raehs Puetz selected as the West Region Cross Country Senior Athletes of the Year was the icing on the cake for Greg Brown and his cross country teams following Saturday’s Region Meet at Prairie Knights Casino Marina.
“We had a great day at Region,” stated Brown, Wolves’ head coach. “Our athletes took on the challenge of a true cross country course. This course was described as a beast and that is what it was.”
Not only was the course a challenge with its many hills, but running in 90-degree heat also posed a challenge to the runners.
“It’s not too often that you run a Region Cross Country Meet in October in 90-degree heat,” stated Brown. “It made for tough conditions on a tough course.”
But Watford City’s runners rose to the challenge with three girls and one boy placing in the top 10 finishers.
Kayla Ogle, Hayley Ogle and Asha Smith finished in second, third, and fourth place, respectively, to lead the the Wolves girls team to a second place finish. Kayla Ogle finished the course in a time of 16:38.43, followed by Hayley Ogle in 17:14.16, and Asha Smith in 17:25.21.
Raehs Puetz led the Watford City boys team across the finish line as he placed seventh in a time of 19:13.13. The boys team finished in fifth place, just eight points behind the third place finishing team.
“Our athletes went in understanding that at this point in the season, times do not matter,” states Brown. “It is all about the competition and we competed very well.”
Brown was more than pleased with the way that his teams competed and is looking forward to the State Meet in Grand Forks on Oct. 24.
“Getting three girls in the top five  was very exciting,” stated Brown. “Likewise, on the boys side, finishing just eight points out of third place was a huge improvement. I’m looking forward to seeing both teams do well at State.”
Watford City Region Cross Country Results
Girls Varsity
2. Kayla Ogle, 16:38.43; 3. Hayley Ogle, 17:14.16; 4. Asha Smith, 17:25.21; 50. Lindsay Peterson, 21:39.73; 53. Gemma Campbell, 21:56.26; 55. Gabby Hogue, 22:04.99; 61. Ellie Schmitz, 22:18.03; 71. Becca Campbell, 23:31.47.
Boys Varsity
7. Raehs Puetz, 19:13.13; 25. Dakota Garmann, 21:25.32; 35. Hunter DeFoe, 22:13.37; 51. Osman Leon, 23:08.82; 58. Devin Schmitz, 23:31.15; 61. Jack Gillispey, 24:05.10; 62. Carter Zenz, 24:23.54; 69. Cauy Hartel, 24:52.11; 73. Cole McGorman, 25:27.15; 83. Andrew Trottier, 28:29.17.
Junior Varsity
Boys: 21. Christopher Ferry, 19:44.07.
Girls: 27. Svea Pearson, 21:02.41; 28. Amelia Honstein, 21:03.89.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER