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By Victoria Dahlin
Senior Rush City cross country runner Josh Wurdemann placed in the top 10 in the Section 5A meet Thursday, Oct. 29 at Pierz Golf Club to qualify for the Minnesota State High School Cross Country meet Saturday.
Wurdemann ran on a very muddy course to come in sixth out of 138 runners with a time of 17:18.6. Last year, Wurdemann placed 10th in the section meet and went on to finish in the top third in the state meet.
Josh Wurdemann placed sixth in the Section 5A meet to qualify for
the state meet. Wurdemann will compete in the state meet at St. Olaf College in Northfield at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7. Photo by
Victoria Dahlin
“Josh ran a good race, going out hard, maintaining his position over the first mile, after settling into the top 10 runners,” Coach Kevin Smith said. “He then moved up to a very good sixth place finish. Josh wanted badly to earn another trip to state and he achieved his goal today.
Tiger sophomore Dan Taylor crossed the finish line next for the boys team, coming in 16th with a time of 17:48.2.
“Dan Taylor did run a personal best today as he pushed himself into the top 20 and nearly grabbed 15th, finishing a strong 16th place,” Smith said. “Dan showed he has the talent to place among the best, and with hard work, finishing in the top 10 and earning a trip to state should be realistic goals for him next year.”
Senior Houston Carlson placed 27th (18:25.2). Sophomores Ike Johnson finished 40th (18:52.6), Dan Weber was 56th (19:25.5) and Jeremiah Smith was 85th (20:41.2).
As a team, the Tiger cross country boys placed fourth out of 19 teams with 145 total team points, ahead of Milaca with 145.5 points and behind Annandale with 150 points. Only the top two teams qualify for the state meet. St. Cloud Cathedral won the meet with 54 team points and Mora took second with 100.
“The course was very wet and soggy, which are not the conditions you want if you are looking to run a fast time or set a personal record,” Smith said. “So most of the runners did not produce a time that was their best today. The boys ran hard, but the competition was too strong to improve on last year’s team place. and they earned fourth for the second year in a row. This is a good finish in the large field, but the goal was to place in the top two teams and qualify for the state as a team, so the boys were disappointed. But they ran as well as they could today. We will miss both Josh and Houston, who are the only senior boys we have. The returning boys will have a huge gap to fill, replacing these two kids. Both have been very reliable all year long. They will be missed, not only for their consistent places in the meets, but also for the example of hard work they showed all season.”
Girls cross country
The Rush City girls cross country team took eighth place at the section meet out of 18 teams with 223 team points, ahead of Milaca with 248 points and behind Maranatha Academy with 198 points. Qualifying for the state meet were Annandale, taking first with 71 team points and St. Could Cathedral, second with 89 team points.
Sophomore Ashley Swanson crossed the finish line first for the Tiger girls, coming in 20th out of 132 runners, with a time of 16:57.9. Freshman Bethany Tomczyk took 43rd (17:35.6) and Courtney Arvidson was 45th (17:39.1). Juniors Bryanna Koehnle placed 56th (17:57.9) and Erin Kossan was 59th (18:01.9). Eighth-grader Samantha Oscarson finished 61st (18:05.3) and senior Laura Hestbeck was 67th (18:18.6).
“The girls team faced a very fast field of opponents,” Smith said. “Four of the seven teams finishing ahead of us have an average time that is faster than our best individual time, so that shows how tough the competition was. All the girls ran hard today, and we are happy with their effort and the focus they showed. They have no reason to be too disappointed, but will need to continue trying to improve if they wish to move up in the standings next season.
“Laura is our only senior this year. She has been running for the varsity team for most of the past five seasons, so her absence will be felt. She has been a strong runner for us and has had a very successful cross country career. Hopefully, her teammates will continue to work hard and give us the same kind of effort Laura has given us over the years,” Smith said.
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