Patriots sweep Metro XC titles

A trio of Lady Lynx ran their way to All-Metro Conference honors at Thursday’s five-team league meet, and guided the squad to a runner-up team finish on the Yankton Trail park course. As anticipated, Class AA’s defending state champs – the Lincoln boys and girls – ran away with their respective Metro Conference titles. The Lynx boys finished in fifth place.

Brandon Valley head coach Larry Beesley said the five-team meet presented new challenges for the Lady Lynx. “Our one thru five gap (of runners) jumped to 90-plus seconds this week, which happens in smaller meets; runners spread out and the gap grows,” Beelsey said. “Forty-four seconds is our season’s best.”

Haylee Waterfall continued to lead the pack of Lady Lynx frontrunners. The senior paced herself to a second-place finish behind medalist, Lincoln’s Courtney Klatt. Waterfall clocked in at 19:38.

Five seconds separated the respective fifth and ninth place race efforts of Lauren Wells and Allison Rief. Wells stepped across the line at 20:04 and Rief at 20:09.

Kylie Foss’ 13^th-place run of 20:39 and Mikaela Birath’s 19^th-place run of 20:52 completed the team tally.

“This was a good team effort for us, and I’m looking forward to where this group will end the season next week,” Beesley said.

The young-staffed boys team didn’t fare as well among their Metro Conference counterparts.

“It was a tough field in this meet, as each one of the schools in front of us are very capable of finishing in the top five of next week’s state meet,” Beelsey said, noting the depth-filled Lincoln and Washington boys’ programs.

Despite the fifth-place team finish and 1-minute 50-second separation between its first and fifth runners, freshman Britton Elkin set a class record for the second consecutive week. He paced himself to 13^th place behind his run of 16:56. Eli Cheever coasted through at 17:37 for 23^rd, and the team’s lone senior, Thomas Redford, was 29^th with his 18:08 effort. Rounding out the team score were Zach Hentschel’s run of 18:33 (33^rd) and Jace Christoffer’s 37^th-place run of 18:48.

“Next week will also be an important meet for this group, as Thomas is the only senior running the state meet in this group, so a strong team finish will be a big boost for this young team,” Beesley said.

A pair of Lady Lynx junior varsity runners – Catilyn Hanson and Hannah Hendrick – picked up All-Metro honors behind their ninth and 10^th place runs, while the Lynx JV boys were guided by Blake Thompson and Quinn Giennapp, who were 24^th and 27^th in the 69-runner race. Beesley said the 1-minute, 20-second gap between the JV boys’ first and fifth runners was “quite possibly our closest race this season.”

One last competition – the Class AA state championships – remains to be run this Saturday. The Rapid City-hosted meet starts at 12 p.m. MT.​

Metro Conference Championships

Varsity girls team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 35; 2.) Brandon Valley 48; 3.) O’Gorman 87; 4.) SF Washington 90; 5.) SF Roosevelt 103.

Lady Lynx results (5,000 meters, 39 runners): 2.) Haylee Waterfall 19:38; 5.) Lauren Wells 20:04; 9.) Allison Rief 20:09; 13.) Kylie Foss 20:39; 19.) Mikaela Birath 20:52; 20.) Katie Wentzy 20:55; 21.) Megan Pickering 21:04; 25.) Natalie Moose 21:26; 32.) Hannah Sprecher 22:02.

Varsity boys team scores: 1.) SF Lincoln 22; 2.) SF Washington 36; 3.) SF Roosevelt 95; 4.) O’Gorman 110; 5.) Brandon Valley 115.

Lynx boys’ results (5,000 meters, 46 runners): 13.) Britton Elkin 16:56; 23.) Eli Cheever 17:37; 29.) Thomas Redford 18:08; 33.) Zach Hentschel 18:33; 37.) Jace Christoffer 18:48; 38.) Colter Elkin 18:50; 40.) Caleb Klatt 19:11; 44.) Josef Zahn 19:31; 45.) Luke Kocer 19:41; 46.) Dustin Groen 20:23.

Lady Lynx JV results (5,000 meters, 47 runners): 9.) Caitlyn Hanson 23:25; 10.) Hannah Hendrick 3:36; 25.) Lexy Hamner 25:31; 26.) Ava Caron 25:33; 42.) Mackenzie Hochhalter 27:12; 44.) Shianne Dutson 28:07; 45.) Kelsey Frost 29:56. Team: Third - 84.

Lynx JV boys’ results (5,000 meters, 69 runners): 24.) Blake Thompson 19:42; 27.) Quinn Gienapp 19:44; 38.) Joshua Lee 20:32; 43.) Jack Scholten 21:01; 45.) Caleb Zerr 21:02; 47.) Aaron House 21:20; 49.) Kyle Heidbrink 21:29; 63.) Brian Wynia 22:46; 65.) Curtis Callahan 23:07; 66.) Kolten Eszlinger 23:27; 67.) Marshall Elkin 24:30; 68.) Grant Gunderson 24:53; 69.) Darrell Terwilliger 25:31. Team: Fourth – 125.