September 9, 2009

Wolves girls take 5th at Bismarck Quarterback Club Cross Country Meet

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Sibee Jokela took 14th place with a time of 16:55 at the very challenging Bismarck Quarterback Club Cross Country Meet on Thursday to help lead the Watford City varsity girls cross country team to a fifth place finish.
“I was really proud of all the runners on Thursday,” stated Greg Brown, Wolves’ head coach. “Mother Nature threw us a curve ball with warm temperatures in the 80s and high humidity, so it was very hard to get into a comfortable pace. I felt all the runners ran well, for the circumstances we ran in.”
According to Brown, Bismarck  is a very hilly course that tests a runner’s  mental toughness.
“We will not be running in a race that has that many hills again this year,” stated Brown. “For the first full-distance race of the year, we did well.”
Also placing for the Wolves girls team were Kade Ross, 32nd, 18:06; Olivia Sundeen, 35th, 18:12; Stephanie Deutsch, 39th, 18:19; and Kristen Stenehjem, 63rd, 20:24.
The girls ended up placing fifth overall behind three Class A teams and New Town, which has a very solid program.
“We had one runner who fell early in the race, and then had problems getting back into her running form,” stated Brown. “The boys ran very well considering four of them are new to cross country this year.  They are progressing nicely, and will keep competing hard all season long.”
In the junior varsity boys division, Jeremiah Beard was the top finisher for the Wolves placing 32nd with a time of 22:03, followed by Curtis Lohse, 33rd, 22:19; and Ben Gumke, 77th, 30:06.
In the boys junior high division, Logan Gumke paced 36th with a time of 12:41 followed by Riley McCarthy, 52nd, 14:10.
The Wolves next cross country meet will be in Mandan on Sept. 12.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER