Titans find success in Brookings

The Tea Area High School cross country teams traveled to Brookings this past Thursday, Sept. 26 to compete in the Russ Strande Cross Country Invite. The Titans delivered strong performances throughout the day, highlighted by the Varsity girls claiming their third team win of the season.

The Titan Varsity girls dominated the field, with all six runners earning medals and five of them placing in the top eight. Leading the way was seventh-grader Evelyn DeGeest, who recorded her first career varsity victory with a time of 20:39.9. Eighth-grader Jayna VanLaecken followed closely, finishing second in 20:57.2. Freshman Logan Castle secured her best varsity finish yet, placing fifth with a time of 22:17.0. Freshman Abby Hilleson finished in seventh place (22:39.3), and eighth-grader Taylor Boehnke crossed the line right behind her in eighth (22:43.9). Junior Meredith Decker earned 16th place (23:12.1), and fellow junior Brooklyn Reiners placed 20th (24:06.7). The Varsity girls team’s performance secured their third win of the season.

Junior Jack Campbell lead the Titan varsity boys by finishing in ninth place with a time of 17:37.7. Sophomore Jonah Klemisch also medaled, placing 19th in 18:31.1. Sophomore Kaden Christian finished 21st (18:46.5), and sophomore Tate VanLaecken came in 24th (19:20.5), followed by freshman Dawson Lowery in 25th (19:51.3) and junior Jacob DeYoung in 26th (19:58.6). Sophomore Noah Korver rounded out the varsity effort, placing 29th in a time of 20:13.1. The Varsity boys team finished third overall.

In the Junior Varsity girls race, sophomore Erica Boterman led the Titans, clocking a season-best time of 19:17.1 to finish in 13th place. Freshman Daphne Decker earned 23rd place (19:56.5), while eighth-grader Natalie Hyronimus took 35th (21:08.1). Junior Morgan Sehr finished in 37th (21:52.2), with fellow junior Kiley Pendergast close behind in 41st (22:33.7). Freshman Harper Heier finished 45th in 22:58.7. The JV Girls team placed fourth in the team competition.

The Junior Varsity boys also turned in solid performances, with seventh-grader Reed Cerny leading the way, finishing 15th in 16:08.6. Sophomore Jaxon Johanneson ran a personal-best time of 17:12.5 to take 37th place, while sophomore Riley Clark followed in 40th (17:14.7). Zaiden Johnson recorded a personal-best 19:06.6 for 78th place, and sophomore Malachi Kaiser ran a season-best 19:08.3 to finish 79th. The JV boys team finished eighth in the standings.

In the Middle School girls’ race,  four Titans earned medal finishes. Eighth-grader Gretchen Curtis led the team, securing sixth place with a time of 13:38.7. Fellow eighth-grader Lola Underberg took ninth (14:00.2), while sixth-graders Lela Kamps and Angelina Dusa finished in 10th (14:05.4) and 13th (14:07.9), respectively. Other notable performances came from sixth-grader Carly Castle, who placed 29th (15:23.2), and fellow sixth-grader Callie Hawthorne, who finished 33rd (15:47.6). The Middle School girls’ team finished third in the team standings.

Eighth-grader Lucas Scott led the Titan middle school boys with a tenth place finish in 12:18.8. Seventh-grader Caden Schuster followed in 19th place (12:58.4), with sixth-graders Jacob Klemisch and Micah Hyronimus close behind in 20th (12:59.1) and 21st (13:03.1), respectively. Seventh-grader Grant Woodis finished 37th (13:33.2), with Jace Ullom taking 60th (14:25.3) and Ryker Kubik rounding out the Titan contingent in 87th (15:08.4). The Middle School boys finished fourth in the team standings.

The Titans will next compete in the Lennox Invite on Thursday, October 4, at the Lenkota Golf Course. The varsity boys race will kick off the meet at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity girls, junior varsity boys, junior varsity girls, and middle school girls and boys running together.