PHS Cross Country: Boys and girls 27th at Griak Invite at U of M

By news@perhamfocus.com

September 26, 2008 at 11:00 PM

By John George

What a difference a week can make.

At the St. Olaf Showcase on Sept. 27, the Yellow Jacket boys cross country team felt disappointed with their performance. They finished fourth out of 20 teams.

At the Roy Griak Invitational this past Saturday, the boys came away much more satisfied, taking 27th out of 48 teams.

Don't let the 27th place finish fool you. The Griak Gold Division race is one of the largest, and arguably the best cross country race in the U.S.

Perham finished 11th among Minnesota school's, and first among Class A?teams. Bismarck (ND)?High won the boys race with 78 points. Perham's total was 719.

"I reminded the guys all week that they have to be confident that they can mix it up with at the front of the pack," head coach Jeff Morris said.

Morris said his top three runners knew they started the St. Olaf race much to conservatively. They started the Griak race with much more determination.

"I told them before the race to get out aggressive and mix it up," Morris said. "Alex (Barney) did a great job of setting the tone in the first 1000 meters of the race, something we did not do last week."

The more aggressive start helped Perham to easily outdistance then No. 1-A?Adrian, who finished 33rd. Adrian fell to No. 4 in the rankings that came out on Sept. 29 with Perham lead frogging them from No. 7 to No. 3 in Class A.

Sam Stoll eventually overtook senior Alex Barney to finish first on the Jacket team with a time of 17:17, good for 85th place.

Keith Schornack was next, finishing 106th, followed by Barney, who was 130th. There were a total of 450 individuals in the boys race.

"We know that our four through seven runners can compete with most Class A schools four and five runners," Morris said. "We just needed our one, two and three guys to run where they were running in the first three meets of the season."

The guys who have provided the team's depth this season, and all three ran together crossed the line under 18:10, were Klaus Weber, Isaac Werner, and Brandon Karels. Rounding out the top-seven was 8th grader Nick Carignan, who ran an 18:25.

Girls also 27th

The Yellow Jacket girls also finished 27th with a total of 663. The Girls Gold Division race went five kilometers, rather than the usual four that girls in Minnesota usually run.

Sioux Falls (SD)?Roosevelt won the Girls Gold race with 138 points. Perham was 11th among Minnesota school's and third among Class A teams. Top-ranked Adrian was 14th and Staples-Motley, ranked No. 2, finished 25th. The Lady Jackets are currently ranked No. 3 in Class A.

Junior Maddie McClellan led Perham with an impressive 10th place finish with a time of 19:29.

"Maddie and Abby (Anderson) went out straight to the front of the pack and were determined to compete with some of the best competition in the country," Morris said. "Maddie ran break out race finishing just behind second ranked Naomi Landecker of Staples-Motley."

Anderson was feeling a little off, but gutted it out as the team's No. 2 runner, finishing 94th.

"Abby's training is going extremely well and I know that she and Maddie will give us great presence at the front of the pack for the rest of the season," Morris said.

Shayla Fulford was next for Perham, finishing 172nd, with Cassie Beseman close behind in 185th place.

"We know from this weekend that our girls have plenty of room to run better," Morris said. "This team is training hard and is showing great intensity and courage in workouts, and it is only a matter of time before our girls translate this into a race.

Saturday, September 27

Roy Griak Invite (U of M-St. Paul)

Gold Division

Boys Team Scores (5K)

1. Bismarck (ND) 78, 2. Lee's Summit West 111, 3. Wayzata 155, 4. Madison West 253, 5. Edina 280, 6. City High (IA) 339, 7. Shawnee Mission NW 346, 8. Sioux Falls Roosevelt 424, 9. Forest Lake 449, 10. Bay Port 455, 11. Lakeville South 463, 12. Minneapolis South 463, 13. Minnetonka 494, 14. Marquette University 517, 15. Pleasant Valley 558, 16. Port Washington 575, 17. Coon Rapids 600, 18. St. Paul Central 611, 19. Roseville 612, 20. Hudson 640, 21. Lakeville North 653, 22. Ankeny 659, 23. St. Thomas Academy 662, 24. Brandon Valley 667, 25. Shorewood 669, 26. Maple Grove 682, 27. Perham 719, 28. Sioux Falls Washington 744, 29. Dowling Catholic 571, 30. Battle Mountain 762, 31. Tomahawk 773, 32. Rosemount 803, 33. Adrian 832, 34. Des Moines 841, 35. West Bend West 862, 36. Bemidji 867, 37. Minneapolis Southwest 944, 38. Totino Grace 956, 39. Rogers 961, 40. Irondale 961, 41. Brainerd 971, 42. East High 978, 43. Mankato West 1017, 44. Fridley 1087, 45. Burnsville, 46. Eau Claire Memorial 1164, 47. Onalaska 1184, 48. Mounds View 1200.

Medalist: Josh Osoro (Bismarck) 15:37.82

Perham Individuals: 85. Sam Stoll 17:17, 106. Keith Schornack 17:29, 130. Alex Barney 17:37, 191. Klaus Weber 18:02, 207. Isaac Werner 18:09, 211. Brandon Karels 18:10, 250. Nick Carignan 18:25. (450 runners)

Girls Team Scores (5K)

1. Sioux Falls Roosevelt 138, 2. Lee's Summit West 148, 3. Dowling Catholic 176, 4. Lakeville North 207, 5. City High 268, 6. Bismarck 324, 7. Whitefish Bay 327, 8. Eastview 353, 9. Lakeville South 356, 10. Burnsville 393, 11. Onalaska 419, 12. Grand Rapids 424, 13. Coon Rapids 439, 14. Adrian 441, 15. White Bear Lake 443, 16. Minot 460, 17. Centerville 533, 18. Bay Port 534, 19. Elk River 536, 20. Wayzata 565, 21. Fargo South 571, 22. Battle Mountain 589, 23. Decorah 595, 24. Forest Lake 614, 25. Staples-Motley 616, 26. Johnston 634, 27. Perham 663, 28. Millard North 696, 29. Rochester Lourdes 703, 30. Mounds View 715, 31. Maple Grove 749, 32. Sioux Falls Washington 786, 33. Brandon Valley 791, 34. Brainerd 802, 35. DSHA 842, 36. Eau Claire Memorial 904, 37. Pleasant Valley 910, 38. Hudson 947, 39. River Falls 1018, 40. Totino Grace 1064, 41. Des Moines Roosevelt 1065, 42. Eau Claire North 1201.

Medalist: Katie Flood (Dowling Catholic) 18:21.4

Perham Individuals: 10. Maddie McClellan 19:29, 94. Abby Anderson 20:34, 172. Shayla Fulford 21:25, 185. Cassie Beseman 21:35, 202. Maddie Covington 21:43, 216. Holly Sheets 21:56, 267. Tanya Berns 22:52. (385 runners)

Boys Class A?Poll Section 9/29 rank

1. Mora 5 2

2. Pequot Lakes 7 3

3. Perham 8 7

4. Adrian 3 1

5. Minnehaha Acad. 4 5

6. Plainview-Elgin-Millville 1 6

6. Jackson CC 2 8

8. Blake 4 4

9. Mounds Park Acad 4 10

10. LP-GE 6 9

Girls Class A?Poll Section 9/29rank