By Mike Petersen
Sports Editor & Staff Writer 

Some goals met, some not at state qualifying meet

Hawks show improvement against 'very competitive' runners in Holstein

 

October 28, 2021

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Kamryn Ebel leads a pack of runners during the Class 1A state qualifying meet at Holstein.

Running against competitive competition, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn cross country runners achieved most of their goals during the 1A state qualifying meet on Oct. 21 at Holstein.

Hawk coach Kyle Borchers characterized the meet as "very competitive."

"They were running fast. It was highly competitive," he said.

Madison Otto was the top finisher for H-M-S in the girls' race. She placed 37th in a time of 23:39. Borchers thought the senior ran a good race despite not achieving her goal of advancing to state.

"It was one of those things," he noted. "She went out and did the best she could."

The other four Hawk girls ran either under or near previous personal bests. Junior Juliana Pasillas ran a "fantastic race" to finish 58th in a time of 25:35. That was nearly four minutes faster than her qualifying meet time a year ago. Freshman Kamryn Ebel was 60th (25:47) and freshman Gracie Knobloch ran her best time (26:32) to finish 66th. Junior Ashleigh Vermeer came in 69th (27:26).


The Hawks did meet their goal of not finishing last as a team. They scored 258 points to place 11th out of 12 schools with complete teams.

"As a team we ran well. I am proud of them," Borchers said.

The Top 2 girls' teams were Fort Dodge St. Edmond with 59 points and Woodbine with 86. The remaining team scores were Manson Northwest Webster 97, Sioux Central 117, Hinton 132, Lawton-Bronson 154, Alta-Aurelia 169, Gehlen Catholic 224, South O'Brien 243, Ridge View 244, H-M-S 258 and Westwood 277.

• Boys run personal bests

Entering the qualifying meet, sophomore George Vargas and junior Bryce Dodge were looking to run sub-20 minute times. Vargas did that, running the 5K in 19:36 to finish 38th. That is a personal-best time and more than nine minutes faster than he ran the same course in 2020.


"George ran a good race. He was chasing that time all year," Borchers noted.

Dodge was "right there" with a season-best 20:05 to finish 49th. Senior Aiden Jensen placed 66th (21:03), freshman Aiden Bush ran 72nd (21:17), freshman Blaine Finster was 87th (22:23), freshman Damian Dodge came in 90th (22:59) and sophomore Gavin Faulkner was 101st (24:25).

Jensen, Damian Dodge and Faulkner all recorded season-best times.

H-M-S finished 12th out of 15 teams with 294 points. Last year's team score was 434.

"We were talking about points, points, point to see how well we could run as a team," Borchers said. "We had a good showing, way better than last year."

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Madison Otto nears the turn for the final loop of the state qualifying meet on Oct. 21.

St. Edmond and Woodbine were also the Top 2 boys' teams, scoring 66 and 71 points, respectively. They were followed by Missouri Valley 87, Sioux Central 99, MMCRU 117, Gehlen Catholic 197, Manson Northwest Webster 201, Siouxland Christian 210, Hinton 249, Alta-Aurelia 263, Ridge View 277, H-M-S 294, Trinity Christian 315, South O'Brien 386 and Akron-Westfield 403.

Borchers feels the cross country program "finished well." Otto and Jensen will graduate, but Borchers feels if H-M-S can get runners out and they work hard in the offseason, the program's future is bright.

 
 

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