The Raiders Cross Country teams took to the course they are very familiar with on Oct. 15 at the St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park. The boys and girls placed second as a team with both teams falling to …
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The Raiders Cross Country teams took to the course they are very familiar with on Oct. 15 at the St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park. The boys and girls placed second as a team with both teams falling to Two Rivers and both edging out Mahtomedi for the second-place finish. The Raiders Tristan Herbst was the top finisher for the boys ending the run in ninth place and Linnea Ronning took the conference title finishing first.
During the boys’ race, it was very clear that Two Rivers was set up to take the conference title home as a team. At the halfway point of the race, the Warriors were moving through the course together as one. Mixed in that clump of Warriors were several Raiders, Tristan Herbst, Parker Stoltz and Aiden Reuter.
At the finish line, Two Rivers took six of the top seven spots with Niah Fernandes finishing first for the individual conference title. Niklas Abrahamson from Simley snuck in the pack at second place breaking up the Warriors sweep. The first Raider to finish was Herbst with a time of 16:52.8 earning ninth place overall. Stoltz was just behind him at 16:59.8 for tenth place. Rueter and David Tireman finished 14th and 15th respectively with William Carry just a few spots behind them in 18th rounding out the scoring for Hastings and giving them a team score of 66.
Conference Championships Boys Team Scores.
1. Two Rivers – 19
2. Hastings – 66
3. Mahtomedi – 84
4. Simley – 116
5. St. Thomas – 120
6. Tartan – 163
7. So. St. Paul – 171
8. Hill-Murray – 192
“We've been saying all week how good the weather was supposed to be for today for running. It has been kind of a warm September and October so far, so, 50-ish degrees, slight breeze today, honestly, just one of the best fall cross country days you're going to get, and I feel like our teams totally delivered. We knew it would be a chance to run some fast times, and we did just that. On the boys’ side, Tristan Herbst had an awesome race, I think he cut 25 seconds from his previous season best, and really had the race that we kind of knew was in there all season. So super happy for him and the rest of the boys. I know, David Tireman had a great race with a [personal record (PR)], and Aiden ruder had a great race of PR, and all the rest of the boys were right up there getting second place as a team. Really awesome result,” said Head Coach Joe Rabaey.
The girls’ race was a bit more open at the halfway point. Two Rivers still had several girls in the top ten, but they were not clumped up as one, and the top Hastings runner, Linnea Ronning was neck and neck with two girls from the Warriors. Lucy Burmeister, Clara Hochmuth and Sienna McCoy we all bunched up in the top twenty, giving the Raiders a solid chance at a good team placement if they could maintain their pace.
At the finish, Ronning crossed first at 18:53.9, 22 seconds faster than the second-place runner. Two Rivers then had seven of the top twelve individual runners to claim the team title. Burmeister finished 14th with a time of 21:50.5, Hochmuth and McCoy finished 16th and 17th respectively with times of 22:03.2 and 22:12.2. Olivia Schuster rounded out the scoring for Hastings in 27th place with a time of 23:45.9.
Conference Championships Girls Team Scores.
1. Two Rivers – 27
2. Hastings – 75
3. Mahtomedi – 81
4. Hill-Murray – 101
5. Simley – 134
6. Tartan – 139
7. So. St. Paul - 175
The girls’ side of things had fewer entries, so every female runner ran as part of the varsity race. That meant the younger girls that normally run in the junior varsity race were thrust into a race with much tougher competition. One JV runner stood out and had all the others waiting for her, cheering her on at the finish line. Zoe Augesen, a freshman, ran her first varsity conference championship meet knocking out a huge improvement for her personal record of 34:07.5.
Looking at the results, Augesen finished last, but her teammates and her roughly 30 second beatdown of her PR had her teammates cheering like she was in first, a testament to the team’s family feeling. The best part of Augesen running varsity was, no matter what, her teammates were not going to leave her out of the varsity group picture at the end of the event. Every time the question was asked ‘do we have everyone?’ the girls quickly counted and said ‘Nope! We are waiting for Zoe’.
“Every single girl had a season best or a PR today, which I was telling them I don't think I've ever seen even on teams I was a part of or coached. For that to happen, for everyone to have such a great day in the same race... I really couldn't be happier,” added Coach Rabaey.
Every single Raider girl had a personal record except one, Ronning. For her to have a PR, she would have had to beat her school record from 2022, a time of 18:52.10, which she missed by one second with her 18:53.9. The conference race was her best time this year. With all of the girls running in the varsity heat, that also meant that all of the girls earned their letter for cross country.
Before the official times were posted, Coach Rabaey chatted about Ronning’s run to a title.
“I think she won so Conference champion by 25ish seconds and was one second off her own school record from two years ago. So, I mean, we knew today was going to be a chance to run fast times, but honestly, it went better than could have ever expected. She's put in so much hard work, so to see it pay off like that is, you know, it's kind of the reason you coach. It's just so awesome.”
Next on the docket is the Section Meet at Valleywood Golf Course in Apple Valley on Oct. 24. The boys are slated to start at 3:30 p.m. while the girls take the spotlight at 4:15 p.m. The last two years the race has been run under cold and wet conditions. Last year was certainly the most miserable condition for all involved. This year looks to be darn near perfect, partly cloudy all day until 4:00 where there is a slight chance for a few hundredths of an inch of rain. Hopefully both races finish before the sprinkles hit the ground.
What does Rabaey see as the biggest difference between the Conference Championship to the Section Championship?
“It is kind of a step up in competition. We have many more of the bigger schools, probably the best running schools in our in our section are going to be Rosemount, which has just been a phenom of late. They took first in the state for track and field the past couple years. I know their boys were second in the state in cross country two years ago, so they're going to be good. Bloomington Jefferson has a great team on the boys and girls side. Some of those bigger schools we face are Eastview and Eagan as well. You know, bigger schools have a lot of good runners, so that's who the top-of-the-line competition will be. But we're ready for it,” he said.
For many runners, this will be their last competition of the season. The section meet is tough and like last year, it can be heartbreaking. The top two teams go to state as a team of six, then, the top six or seven individuals not on the top two teams go. Rabaey was uncertain about the exact number of individuals because of this year’s rule changes. With that explained, this is why last year was so heartbreaking for the Raiders, Herbst was the first runner cut out of the top individual runners missing the cut by just under three seconds at 18th place. Three seconds faster and he would have joined Ronning at the state meet.
This year, Rabaey believes that Herbst and Stoltz both have a chance to make the state meet on the boys side and with Ronning making it to state the last two years, there is a great chance of her making a state appearance for a third year.
Based on last year’s results, Forest Lake’s Norah Hushagen, now a senior, is the likely favorite to win this year. Hushagen won the state title with a time of 17:27.6. This year, she hit a PR at their conference meet of 17:04.1.
For the boys, last year’s state champion was also a junior, Robert Mechura of Roseville, and his closest competitor from state last year graduated, so he should be the favorite to win again this year. Mechura also hit a PR this year going 14:53.9 early in the season.
The Raiders have a challenge ahead of them at Sections and with some luck, we will be talking about several kids going to the state meet at the U of M’s Les Bolstad Golf Course Nov. 2.