HIBBING—The Hibbing High School girls and boys cross country teams begins their quest for a fourth-straight and first Section 7AA title, respectively, when they take part in the Twins Ports Meet, which begins at 11 a.m. at Lester Park Golf Course in Duluth.
Duluth East hosts the meet, and joining the Greyhounds and Hibbing in the field are Duluth Denfeld, Centennial and Farmington.
According to Bluejacket coach James Plese, this is a good meet to begin the season.
“It’s a challenging course to start the year off right, and right into competition with three 3A schools in the state and state contenders,” Plese said. “It’s a little early to see that, but at the same time, it’s a measuring stick to see where we’re at, and where we need to get to.
“I enjoy seeing the big schools in this tough race. It gets them in the right mindset right away.”
Plese will set his lineup up with all veterans, and he’s hoping senior Tara Hertling takes on the challenge in the girls race.
“We want her to go with the lead pack to see how she feels,” Plese said. “It’s not our strongest lineup, but we still want to be competitive. As for the boys, we’ve set some goal times.
“I’m not sure where the team will be. Most of our lineup will be sophomore-, junior- and senior-heavy. We’ll see where they’re at. This will be a nice starting point. It’s a run to project our 5K times. It’s something to look at to see if we need to practice harder, or do some extra runs that we prescribe. It’s early, but this is where the season can be made up.”
Plese wants his runners to do well, but no matter what happens, he’s not going to put too much emphasis on this meet.
“I enjoy this meet,” he said. “On the boys side, we’ll have a competitive group, fighting for those last couple of varsity spots. We’ll see that shift around. For the girls, it’s a quest for that depth, as to who will fill the void from graduation.
“There’s a lot on the line, but I know these girls won’t shy away or crumble with that kind of pressure.”
Running against top-quality competition will do Hibbing some good.
“I’ll be happy with a competitive day,” Plese said. “It’s that starting point for us. I want them to leave it all out on the course. I don’t want anyone second guessing that they had more to give.
“Some of them have done tons of mileage and some none. The girls have to work harder, and boys want to make a name for themselves. They’re knocking on the door. Brady (Janezich) and Tara will set the tone for the team. They should set a good tone.”
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