By Allie Paulzine, Student Reporter The Warrior cross country team kicked off the 2024 season in Marshall on Tuesday, August 27th. There were five teams present at this meet including Marshall, Luverne, SWMNCH-ES, Worthington, and Murray County Central/ Fulda.
The junior high girls 2,100 meter race started off the meet. Luverne took first place on the team side. The Warriors had two runners in the junior high race. Seventh grader Isabella Schreier (10:14) led the race placing fourth for the girls. Tessa Alquist (12:40), also a seventh grader, placed 16th.
Next up was the junior high boys 2,100 meter race where the MCC/F boys placed second with 52 points. This was a very competitive race with Marshall taking 4 of the top five spots which led them to win with a near perfect score of 16. Micah Janssen (8:50) finished first of the Warrior boys in sixth. Connor Pieske (9:22) and Allen Ahrens (9:23) finished just one second apart earning 11th and 12th in their first cross country race of their careers. Garret Reith finished 17th in 9:35. Seventh grader Carson Sykora ran 11:12 to finish 29th. Then another back to back finish for the boys was Bobby Keller (11:58) and Carter Larson (12:00) placing 32nd and 33rd. The Warrior boys has a large junior high team of mostly seventh graders. This meet really displayed their talent and strength which will be exciting to watch as they enter their varsity seasons in the years to come.
Following the junior high races, the girls varsity had another competitive race with so much talent on display. Sophomore Katelyn Leibfreid of Marshall won the girls varsity race. For the Warriors, Laiken Farris (20:59), also a sophomore, placed fifth. Farris will be a huge asset to the girls team this season and future seasons too. Another promising runner, Holland Vogel, finished impressively in 12th place in 23:35. Vogel had a very impressive season last year, as just an eighth grader competing in all varsity meets.
Ruth Ethridge (26:57) was the final runner for the MCC/F Warrior girls in 20th place. The Marshall girls ran very close together which resulted in their low score of 17 to take first place.
Following girls varsity, Owen Janiszeski (16:01) unsurprisingly took first in the boys race finishing 37 seconds ahead of second place. Places 2-5 were all occupied by the Marshall boys. Then senior Evan Baumgardner finished 7th. Baumgardner has been a tremendous asset to the boys team. He’s made two state appearances in 2022 and 2023. Close behind him was Matthew Stapek (17:22) who finished ninth. In 21st and 22nd were Alexander Betz (19:03) and Caleb Appel (19:23). Another group of warriors runners was Beckett Stelter (19:58) and Aiden Appel (20:05) finishing again back to back in 24th and 25th. Alex Keuney (21:15) and Zach Kirchner (21:17) were separated from Stelter and Appel by just two runners, both from SWMNCH-ES. The final four runners for the Warrior Varsity boys were Carter Knakmuhs (22:07), Walker Biren (22:29), Blaine Braun (23:11) and Yordi Oliverdos (26:55). The Warrior boys definitely favored running in packs this race. Marshall again won this race with 26 points. Luverne was second with 36 points. And the Warriors were third scoring 76 points.
The boys then had two runners in the 4,000m junior varsity race. Freshman Tyler Reith placed 4th in 16:42. Behind him was William Biren finishing 20th with a time of 24:05. Marshall again took first with 18 points in this race.
The Warriors had a successful meet that showcased the potential of a lot of the younger runners of this team. They will compete next on Friday, August, 30th at the Wolverine Invitational in Mountain Lake! Go Warriors!!
