West Central Area cross country looks to make noise in postseason

Sam Peterson

Grant County Herald

After two weeks of practice, the West Central Area boys and girls cross country teams were finally able to get their competition season started this week. The team lost just three runners from last year’s team and return many of their top athletes. With 13 runners returning to the team, the Knights hope to improve on last year and make a push in the postseason to get as many athletes to the Class A state meet as possible.

Last season, the WCA girls were third as a team and had three runners in the top-15 with Kyra Beyer in ninth, Nora Anderson in 11th, Taylor Bennett in 14th and Blaire Rueter in 15th. The boys finished fifth in the West Central Conference meet as a team. Carter Kjesbo led the team in third, Aaron Biss was 17th and Isaac Allen finished 18th.

At the Section 6A championships, neither team qualified for state, but they did have two individuals make the state meet. The girls finished fourth as a team, but Beyer qualified for state by placing 17th. The boys finished seventh as a team, but Kjesbo finished fifth and punched his ticket to state.

The team lost three runners to graduation last season, Taylor Bennett, Alexa Blume and Terina Blascyk, all three of whom were captains last season. The team will also be without Beyer this season as she suffered an ankle injury and will be out all year. “She’s an incredible runner who will be sorely missed on the team,” head coach Austin Hanson said.

The Knights do have a lot of athletes returning to the team with varsity experience. For the boys, the returning letterwinners include: seniors Simon Moritz and Tayden Amundson; juniors Zeke Sieckert and Aaron Biss; and sophomore Michael Girard. The returning letterwinners for the girls are: seniors Blaire Reuter and Brooklyn Strobel; juniors Whitney Blume and Nora Anderson; sophomores Cassidy Reuter and Skylar LaRue; and freshmen Natalea Olson and Nora Wright.

The team will be led by their four captains this season: Moritz, Amundson, Reuter and Strobel.

While the team does have a lot of experience on the team this season, coach Hanson has his eye on a couple of newcomers who could impact the varsity teams. Juniors Nolan Kaiser and Gavin Boll will have a chance to compete this season for the boys team.

The teams both started practice Aug. 12 and have been hard at work getting ready for their first competition. Even before practice started, many of the West Central athletes had chances to run in 5Ks over the summer to sharpen their skills before the school season started. “Both teams have been progressing well and we are excited to see how the kids handle competition and the team-aspect of racing. They are eager to show their hard work from the summer into the season. We believe that both teams will be a challenger in the postseason and there are several individuals who I am confident will be vying for the state tournament as well. I personally hope that each runner has fun, challenges themselves to their full potential and is a leader in their own role. Can’t wait for the season to get started,” coach Hanson said.

The team got their competition season started this week with their first meet in Morris August 27. The next meet on the schedule is set for Thursday, August 29 when they will travel to Wahpeton, ND.