Conference, state meets just around the corner for Watertown, Aberdeen Central cross country runners

WATERTOWN — Watertown, Aberdeen Central and a good portion of the rest of the state Class AA cross country runners kicked off the home stretch of the season by competing in the Watoma Invitational on Thursday.

The meet, held at Cattail Crossing Golf Course, featured eight of the 10 Eastern South Dakota Conference schools alsong with Sioux Falls O'Gorman and Rapid City Central.

Harrisburg held off Brandon Valley for the girls division title and Brookings won the boys division. Watertown took fourth in the boys division and sixth in the girls division and Aberdeen Central fifth (girls) and sixth (boys).

"Our home meet sometimes brings out the nerves, but not today," Watertown head coach Jenn McElroy said. "The kids ran so well. We came off a hard meet in Rapid City last week, so I was a little nervous but the kids responded to the home meet."

Yankton and Tea Area will fill out the 10-team field for the ESD meet on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron. Watertown and Aberdeen Central will compete again at Huron in the Roger Loecker Invite on Thursday, Oct. 17 before all of the state's cross country runners conclude their seasons with the state meet on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Hart Ranch Camping Resort in Rapid City.

Watoma Invite Results

• Varsity Girls Team Scores — Harrisburg 32, Brandon Valley 46, Pierre 103, O'Gorman 105, Aberdeen Central 136, Watertown 140, Rapid City Central 145, Brookings 202.
• Varsity Girls Top 15 Runners — 1. Hannah Genrich, Harrisburg, 17:25.08; 2. Brianna Reilly, Harrisburg, 17:25.19; 3. Ella Boekelheide, Northwestern, 17:54.12; 4. Emery Larson, Pierre, 18:22.57; 5. Sarah VanDeBerg, Brandon Valley, 18:30.19; 6. Addison Reilly, Harrisburg, 18:36.01; 7. Grace McElroy, Watertown, 18:49.93; 8. Autumn Gilhooly, Brandon Valley, 19:05.32; 9.Addison Scholten, Brandon Valley, 19:05.32; 10. Emma Tidemann, Brandon Valley, 19:06.59; 11. Lilian Rude, Brandon Valley, 19:27.18; 12. Halle Watson, O'Gorman, 19:39.31; 13. Sheridan Madden, Rapid City Central, 19:42.40; 14. Juna Ramey, Aberdeen Central, 19:46.41; 15. Allie Novstrup, Aberdeen Central, 19:53.68.
• Varsity Girls Other Area Runners — Watertown (17. Olivia Anderson, 19:59.92; 28. Kate McElroy, 20:24.89; 50. Lola Barrett, 21:43.82; 54. Grace List, 21:55.19; 59. Perla Barrett, 22:22.25; 65. Jayda Jensen, 23:09.85; 69. Leila Barrett, 23:27.96; 72. Elizabeth Rieffenberger, 24:05.52; 74. Isabella Horning, 24:34.18); Aberdeen Central (34. Kylee Hanley, 20:38.89; 43. Allison Brenner, 21:22.34; 45. Khloe Cochran, 21:27.76; 47. Evie Novstrup, 21:40.34; 49. Iris Ramey, 21:41.81; 53. Isabella Vrbka, 21:53.39; 63. Scout Rosendahl, 22:48.78; 67. Lula Karst, 23:16.77; 68. Lilly Flood, 23:24.04); and Northwestern (31. Tara Blachford, 20:29.69).

• Varsity Boys Team Scores — Brookings 43, Rapid City Central 59, Brandon Valley 65, Watertown 117, Harrisburg 128, Aberdeen Central 173, Pierre 183, O'Gorman 206, Huron 250, Mitchell 280.
• Varsity Boys Top 15 Runners — 1. Mikah Peters, Brandon Valley, 15:33.97; 2. Trevin Lounsbury, Brookings, 15:43.23; 3. Dane Stark, Watertown, 16:15.37; 4.Jack Wagoner, Sioux Falls Jefferson, 16:18.77; 5. Ty Sullivan, Watertown, 16:21.23; 6. Jonathan Kahler, Brookings, 16:25.40; 7. Ernest Ting, Brookings, 16:28.76; 8. Asher Selness, Brandon Valley, 16:34.39; 9. Easton Klatt, Harrisburg, 16:43.51; 10. Eric Errea, RC Central, 16:51.09; 11. Aidan Hermsen, RC Central, 16:51.66; 12. Ethan Kyte, Brandon Valley, 16:53.45; 13. Tarin Hutchinson, RC Central, 16:58.77; 14. Yadriel Munoz, RC Central, 17:01.02; 15. Alex Diersen, Brookings, 17:01.65.
• Varsity Boys Other Area Runners — Watertown (30. Tucker Lunde, 17:43.05; 39. Isaiah Norton, 17:55.96; 53. Gabe List, 18:14.73; 55. Logan Becker, 18:19.16; 74. Kaiser Lunde, 19:02.76; 77. Evan Mack, 19:15.32); and Aberdeen Central (22. Sam Schultz, 17:17.86; 28. Ryder Davis, 17:36.94; 34. Kyson Fayant, 17:50.79; 36. Cody Kiesz, 17:51.42; 80. Hayden Werlinger, 19:33.74).

Girls Division Notes

Six of the top 12 finishers in the girls division were freshmen or younger, including five eighth-graders. One of those was Harrisburg's Genrich, who held off seventh-grade teammate Reilly's strong kick at the finish.

Grace McElroy, an eighth-grader, led the way for Watertown by placing seventh. Freshmen Olivia Anderson placed 17th and sophomore Kate McElroy, Grace's sister, 28th to lead the Arrows.

"We were able to see some of the best runners in the state in the girls division," Coach McElroy said,. "Grace was able to run up there with them for awhile and brought some of the other girls along with her. Olivia has had a couple of tough meets, but she came out today for one of her best races. The rest of the girls really responded to the competition around them too."

Juna Ramey, a junior, and Allie Novstrup, an eighth-grader, led Aberdeen Central with top-15 finishes. Northwestern junior Ella Boekelheide, a Class B runner, finished third to prove she's one of the best runners in the state regardless of class.

Boys Division Notes

Brandon Valley's Peters led from start to finish but had to hold off Brookings' Lounsbury, a sophomore. Lounsbury spearhead a strong showing by the Bobcat boys.

Sophomore Dane Stark took third and junior Ty Sullivan fifth of Watertown. Junior Tucker Lunde took 30th. Schultz, a junior, took 22nd and Davis, a junior, 28th for Aberdeen Central.

"Peters will be a strong contender for the state title but Ty and Dane both responded really well. To have two guys in the top 5 is always a great thing and something Watertown hasn't had in awhile," McElroy said. "The rest of the boys are running some of their best races of the season, which is exactly where we want to be heading into ESD next week."

Many and same teams in runners will be the ones to beat in the conference meet, and possibly even the state meet.

"Huron is harder course but one the kids love to run on. We have a great shot at getting a couple All-ESD runners in both boys and girls," McElroy said.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS TO WATCH: A look at some of the top area high school cross country runners to watch this fall

Other Cross Country

Watertown and Aberdeen Central's teams also competed on Sept. 27 in the Rapid City Invitational at the Hart Ranch Camping Resort, the host site of the state meet later this month.

Grace McElroy took 17th (20:16.46) to lead Watertown's girls. Juna Ramey of Aberdeen Central was 42nd (21:22.29), Alliv Novstrup of Aberdeen Central 49th (21:41.38) and Kate McElroy of Watertown 67th (22:01.45).

Sullivan placed 10th (16:55.37) and Stark (22nd, 17:17.57) in the boys division. Max Nelson of Aberdeen Central took 28th (17;25.81) and teammate Tate DeVries 30th (17:32.2).

"Being able to see the state course last week, shaking out the cobwebs and knowing what we're getting into traveling across the state I think will give us a lot of confidence. We know what things we need to change coming into it," McElroy said.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Conference, state meets just around the corner for Watertown, Aberdeen Central cross country runners