Clear Lake cross country teams clean up at home meet

[caption id="attachment_12914" align="alignleft" width="270"] GHV’s Ray Cataldo, Derek Brown and Reece Smith were the top finishers for the Cardinals. Smith won the boys race, while Brown was third and Cataldo was fourth.[/caption]

GHV’s Reece Smith captures first place; CL’s Faught takes second

Clear Lake hosted its annual cross country meet on Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Baptist Camp.  The day started off with uncertainty due to the weather, but by the end of the evening conditions were favorable for the course and the home team.

CLHS Coach Nick DiMarco called it a true cross country race, where the harriers had to run through mud and standing water on parts of the course.  This didn’t deter the Clear Lake runners, as the boys finished first overall and the girls finished fourth out of 13 teams.  The boys were winners by virtue of a fifth runner tie-breaker.  They topped Eagle Grove to capture the title.

In the varsity boys race, Eric Faught led the Lions in a time of 17:57, earning him second place.  “This was the highest Eric has placed this year and the first time he broke the 18 minute barrier,” said Coach DiMarco.  “Eric ran a very strong race and was closing on the leader to the very end.”

Sam Pedelty was next for the Lions.  He placed sixth in a time of 18:09.  “Sam also ran his best race of the year,” added DiMarco.  “Sam continues to improve his course management strategy.”

Ryan Faught finished eighth in a time of 18:22.  “Ryan was feeling under the weather for this race, yet still held off two Eagle Grove runners at the end and was a key component in the Lions victory,” said the coach.

Ike Branstad finished 14th in a time of 19:02.  “This was Ike’s best time of the year and continues to improve in leaps and bounds.”  

Spencer Orr was the fifth Lion runner, finishing 17th with a time of 19:28.  Orr held off a hard charging Humboldt runner which secured a tie in overall score with Eagle Grove.

The win came down to a tie breaker, which in cross country is the sixth runner for a team.

[caption id="attachment_12913" align="alignleft" width="270"] Clear Lake’s Erin O’Tool finished 27th in a time of 24:44 for the Lions. She was the third Clear Lake girl to cross the line.[/caption]

Kaleb Froiland finished 19th in 19:38, 11 places ahead of Eagle Grove’s sixth man.  Sam Jones finished 23rd in 19:43.  Sam was also several places ahead of Eagle Grove’s sixth man.

“The boys are beginning to understand that each runner plays a significant role in a meet such as this.  This is a testimony to their team mentality,” said Coach DiMarco.

GHV freshman Reece Smith crossed the finish line first in the boys varsity race in a time of 17:50.  Derek Brown was third in 18:00 and R    =ay Cataldo was fourth in 18:01.  Ezra Marroquin was 20th in 19:40 and Jacob Meier was 31st in 20:07.  Mason Wirtz rounded out the varsity lineup for the Cards. He ran a 20:38.

As a team, the Cardinals finished in third place overall with 59 points.

“We ran very well on the wet, muddy course at Clear Lake,” said Coach Jeff Short.

“The home crowd provided amazing inspiration to the runners.  The team would like to thank the community and school for supporting our home meet.  We would also like to express our appreciation to the staff at the Baptist Camp for allowing us to host at such a beautiful facility,” added Coach DiMarco.

Varsity Girls

The Clear Lake varsity girls team finished fourth in a 13-team field with 124 points.  West Fork won the title with 36.  Humboldt was runner-up with 42 points, followed by Newman Catholic with 95.

“The girls’ performance is as equally impressive as the boys’ in that we are not yet full strength,” said Coach DiMarco.  “To finish in the top third in a race that has several ranked teams is very admirable.”

Running her first race after a bought of bronchitis, Gretchen Jones finished eighth with a time of 22:18.  Katelyn Moore shaved significant time off of her personal best to finish 20th in a time of 23:38.  Erin O’Tool finished 27th in a time of 24:44, followed closely by Bailey Larsen, who was 28th in a time of 24:57.  Rounding out the scoring for the Lions was Tali Tesar, placing 41st in a time of 26:22.  Completing the team, Kara Reineke placed 49th in 27:25.  Nikki Tesar was 60th with a time of 28:02.

“This is an exciting team to watch improve and will be a team to be reckoned with when we are at full strength,” added DiMarco.

The GHV girls finished right behind the Lions in fifth place with 149 points.

Maria Gonzalez was the top placewinner for the Cards.  She was 19th in 23:23.  Juniors Kaylee Hudspet and Rebekah Larson were 23rd and 33rd in 24:19 and 25:24.  Freshman Nicole Upmeyer ran a 25:36 to place 36th.  Morgan Grahan was 38th in 25:49.  Also running in the varsity race was Rachel Sokol, who was 45th in 26:30, and Emma Whelan, placing 63rd in 28:19.

Junior Varsity

Clear Lake’s Alena Gabrielson burst onto the running scene with a first place finish in a time of 24:50.  She ran a very strong race and completed the 5K in nearly a minute faster than the next closest competitor, according to Clear Lake Coach Nick DiMarco.  Clear Lake had three additional runners in the top 20 in the JV girls race.  Michaela Niles finished 16th in a time of 30:42 and Krystal Lu finished 17th in a time of 30:47.  Madison Brandt finished 19th in a time of 31:48.  Rounding out the Lion girls’ roster was:  Breauna Archer, 22nd in  33:05; Madison Gochanour, 23rd, 33:22; Aliyah Bennett, 24th, 33:57; Ivy Pruisman, 25th, 34:19; and Ellie Biebesheimer was 26th, 34:19.

The GHV JV girls were led by Hannah Wellik, who was second in a time of 25:35.  Paige Rasmuser was 20th in 28:19.

Clear Lake’s JV b team was also victorious with 31 points.

Grant Dieken continues to run strong times and finished second in a time of 20:27.  Dylan Schuchard was fourth in a time of 20:41, shaving a minute off of his personal best time of the season.  Freshman Lewis Callaway continues to show great promise by finishing fifth in a time of 20:49.  Jacob Wessels was also in the top 10, placing seventh in a time of 20:55.  Rounding out the scoring for the Lions was Jonah Pedelty, coming in 13th in a time of 21:28.

Other Lion runners included: Carter Olk, 24th, 22:06; Gage Bendickson, 47th, 23:20; Jackson Hamlin, 51st, 23:55; Bryan Hillyer, 63rd,  25:13; Noah Kopney, 67th, 25:23; Carson Meyer 68th, 25:25; Joel Groeneweg, 71st, 25:51; Daniel Tank, 72nd, 25:53; Hunter Gerhardt 75th, 26:31; Zeke Branstad 77th, 26:32; Nick Currier 79th, 27:11; David Guetzlaff 84th, 28:26; and Tucker Phaiboun 87th,  28:41.