Cross country boys win region championship

Both the Custer High School boys and girls cross country teams have advanced to the Class A State meet after the boys claimed the Region 5A championship and the girls came away with third last week at Hart Ranch outside Rapid City. Both needed to finish in the top three teams to qualify for state. Individual racers could also qualify for the state meet by finishing in the top 20 places.
“I was pleased. The kids did what they needed to do to get to state. Our boys looked strong. Our girls battled tough,” said head coach Karen Karim. “On the boys side I think we looked really strong. I think there’s still more there, but I like to see that improvement out of those freshman boys.”
The team was led by senior Sean Shipp, who finished second with a time of  16:10:00.
Austin Drew, a sophomore, took fifth place with 17:18.06 and freshman Peyton Krueger took sixth place with a time of 17:21.68.
Junior Kian Rusch and Zane Gunnel, a freshman,  finished within the same second to earn eighth and ninth place, respectively with times of 17:47.03 and 17:47.76.
“Zane Gunnell was coming on strong. I don’t think he knows how good he could be,” said Karim.  “Same thing with Peyton Krueger. He looks good.”
Freshman Aiden Dooley finished in 21:01.04 for 35th. Dooley is facing a knee injury, and will be out for the state meet while Zach Cooper, also a freshman, will fill his spot. Cooper won the JV region race with a time of 18:14.35.
As a team, the Wildcats finished in first place with 21 points, ahead of Hill City with 33 and Rapid City Christian with 48.
The girls team had more of a challenge ahead of them to get to state.
“They had a challenge for that third place spot from the St. Thomas More girls. They ran hard and raced their way to that third place,” said Karim.
With four runners placing in the top 20, most of the team qualified for the meet individually, but by placing third, the whole team gets to race at state.
“That was exciting,” said Karim.
The girls were led by senior Maya Tennyson, who finished 11th with a time of 21:47.98. She finished first in a pack of other Custer runners, second of which was freshman Mikayla Dennis who came in 12th with a time of 22:01.22. A hair behind at 22:02.16 was Keira Alfson in 13th.
With a Belle Fourche runner also in the mix to take 14th, Makenzi Ham, a freshman, finished within seconds of the others to take 15th with her time of 22:03.69.
Next up was Lexi Wilkins, who finished 25th with a time of 23:51.77. Keira Thorp finished with a time of 25:35.81 to take 28th place.
Sophomore     Holly Nielsen    earned fourth in the JV race with a time of 24:26.39 and will go to state as the team’s alternate.
As a team the girls scored 51 points, behind Belle Fourche with 31 and Hill City with 22.
Karim said she was happy to see the JV kids do well at the meet. She said there were some middle school athletes who also bumped up to JV to compete in the meet. The success of the younger runners “bodes well for the future,” said Karim.
“We have a lot of kids who are running their best at the end of the season which is what we like to see. I know some kids have battled sickness, some kids have battled injuries and they may not be one hundred percent, but there’s a lot of improvements,” said Karim.
This Saturday, Oct. 26, the teams are back on the Hart Ranch course to compete with the best teams from across South Dakota at the state championship meet.
“Our girls had to battle just to get there, and I just hope they have their best race of the season at the end. That’s what I hope for them is to have their peak performance there,” said Karim.
On the boys side, Karim expects them to be competitive for a team award and spot on the podium.
“Sioux Falls Christian looks very dominant in first place. Dakota Valley is supposed to beat us and we are supposed to be third, but I feel like whoever comes and is ready to race next week is probably going to take home the higher honors,” said Karim.
The team is looking for local support next week since “the state meet comes around in the Black Hills every four years kind of like the Olympics or presidential elections,” said Karim.
“You don’t get a chance to see the state meet competition in the Black Hills very often. Our kids are competing well at this point in time. I would encourage any local fans to come out and support them,” said Karim.
The girls are set to race at 12:30 and the boys will run at 2 p.m. at Hart Ranch in Rapid City.