Pascuzzi a force for Chisholm harriers

CHISHOLM—Olivia Pascuzzi is only going into the ninth-grade, but she’s already made a name for herself.

Pascuzzi has advanced to the Minnesota State High School League State Cross Country Meet the past two seasons, finishing 14th in 2023 and 76th in 2022.

According to Chisholm coach Chelsey Schmitz, Pascuzzi is ready for another successful season.

“She trains all summer long,” Schmitz said. “She pays attention to her times. She’s super motivated to hit every goal she sets for herself.”

Schmitz only has one sophomore this year, her daughter Destiny Schmitz.

“She’s going to try and go to state,” Schmitz said. “She knows she needs to drop time and run her best toward the end of the season. She’s ran with Olivia a few times this summer, and she tries to trail her in practice.

“They have a friendly competition. They’re pushing each other to be better. They would love to have a team. We’re trying to build two younger girls in junior high.”

One of those girls is eighth-grader Keelia Broman. The other runner is a sixth-grader.

“They’ve been hoping since the sixth- and seventh-grades to have a group of five girls to run together,” Schmitz said. “Volleyball has most of the girls involved with that.”

With the lack of a team, there’s only so many goals that can be accomplished.

“Last year, instead of team goals, we were looking at individual times at different meets,” Schmitz said. “Toward the end of the season, they got their time goals narrowed down.

“They look at competitors and what they’re running, then being competitive with that.”

On the boys side, Schmitz has one senior, Daeren Konstad.

“His first year was last year, but he improved in every meet,” Schmitz said. “He’s a hard worker, so he will lead our boys team.”

There’s two sophomores, Carter Pender and Tristan Holwea.

“We’re hoping for both of them to continue to improve all season,” Schmitz said.

The Bluestreaks have one freshman, Carson Maki, and two eighth-graders, Jasper Verant and Ethan Moody.

“Carson is super speedy, so I’m excited to see how he does on a long-distance course,” Schmitz said. “He’s got to learn how to pace himself. He starts out fast, then he has to slow down. Learning the sport is what he has to do.

“Jasper has only run one 5K last year, and Ethan has been learning the sport. They have to pace themselves, so they can be good competitors.”

This year’s goals are simplistic.

“Last year, with the boys, we talked a lot about goals for the team and individuals,” Schmitz said. “For the boys, we’ll try to shave down our points total. The girls are both hoping to do well in sections and go to state.”