Tiger runners dominate at home

The Northwestern High School cross country team pulled off a complete sweep at its own invitational Tuesday afternoon at the Norwood Golf Course in Lake Nebagamon.

The Tiger boys and girls won the varsity team titles and Ryan Lind and Jordan Johnson finished first in their respective races.

“We had a very good day,” said NHS coach Phil McGrath. “There were some very good teams at the meet and I wasn’t sure how we’d end up; but we had runners, both men and women, who stepped up for us, and we did very well as a team.”

The Superior Spartans were also in action, with the girls finishing second and the boys third.

Superior’s Evan Walpole and Chris Carey finished second and third in the boys varsity race and Leah Holmes was the fastest Spartan girl with a third-place finish.

The Tigers also won the junior varsity boys title, and the Superior girls beat out Northwestern by five points. NHS runner Bret Little was the top boys JV finisher, and Superior’s Kayla Raboin won for the girls.

“Our team has lots of depth, and as a result both varsity and JV teams did well,” McGrath said. “Our sixth and seventh varsity runners keep switching because we have JV runners who keep challenging and keep competing for those top seven spots. And it’s really wonderful to see athletes who keep encouraging each other to run hard and do their best. I think you can attribute our success to the team’s coherence, competitiveness and drive to attain goals.”

Northwestern returns to action at 4 p.m. Monday at Cumberland. The Spartans will again on Sept. 27 at Hibbing.

Northwestern Cross Country Invitational

Boys Team Scores

Northwestern, 52; Esko, 55; Superior, 70; Duluth Denfeld, 105; Hermantown, 114; Drummond, 115; Marshall, 182; Hurley, 191.

Girls Team Scores

Northwestern, 45; Superior, 47; Hermantown, 84; Esko, 94; Hurley, 113; Duluth Denfeld, 156; Marshall, 159.

JV Boys

Northwestern, 15; Esko, 46; Superior, 73; Duluth Denfeld, 107; Marshall, 126.

JV Girls

Superior, 32; Northwestern, 37; Hurley, 51.

Varsity Boys

Top 5, plus NHS and SHS results

1 Ryan Lind, NHS, 16:42.8; 2 Evan Walpole, SHS, 16:44.2; 3 Chris Carey, SHS, 16:53.5; 4 Ben Hanson, Esko, 16:56.3; 5 Matt Lepisto, DD, 17:02.2; 7 Mason Lombard, NHS, 17:06.4; 9 Robert McClarey, SHS, 17:13; 13 Travis Sznaider, NHS, 17:50.6; 15 Kyle Routio, NHS, 18:01.5; 16 Ty Rankin, NHS, 18:05.8; 23 Josiah Vik, NHS, 18:31.2; 24 Carter Anderson, SHS, 18:37.4; 32 Shane Tetzlaff, SHS, 19:15.6; 37 Jake Kennedy, SHS, 19:24.9; 46 Mason Stien, SHS, 20:09.2.

Varsity Girls

1 Jordan Johnson, NHS, 15:15.9; 2 Natalie Stauber, Herm., 15:38.2; 3 Leah Holmes, SHS, 15:41.2; 4 Ann Kleinschmidt, Marshall, 15:44.4; 5 Emma Nelson, NHS, 15:52.6; 6 Rachel Dixon, SHS, 16:31.8; 7 Natalie Kintop, SHS, 16:33.5; 8 Michaela Ruhman, NHS, 16:48.9; 11 Carmen Ormston, NHS, 17:01.6; 14 Isabella Evanvold, SHS, 17:11.4; 17 Kali Krivinchuk, SHS, 17:24.8; 20 Tess Nelson, NHS, 17:30.7; 21 Lorena Lane, SHS, 17:33.3; 22 Molly Bergum, SHS, 17:36.3; 28 Angela Snow, NHS, 17:57; 31 Beth Gurske, NHS, 18:08.3.

JV Boys

1 Bret Little, NHS, 18:57.4; 2 Thomas Trzynka, NHS, 19:16; 3 Nathan Markon, NHS, 19:17.7; 4 Matt Stai, NHS, 19:22; 5 Matthew Thom, NHS, 19:30; 8 Leo Mack, NHS, 20:09.4; 11 Foster Stromgram, SHS, 20:24; 14 Tim Heikkila, NHS, 20:45.2; 15 Jake Jaques, SHS, 20:46.9; 16 August Cadotte, SHS, 20:49.1; 17 Jeb Pflug, NHS, 20:50.5; 18 Mike Nowicki, SHS, 20:55.4; 20 Joe Tenney, SHS, 21:05.1; 22 Michael Bessler, NHS, 21:39.1; 25 Jeremy Johnson, NHS, 21:50.5; 29 Luke Jarman, NHS, 22:43.1; 32 David Fechtelkotter, NHS, 23:06.7; 33 Austin Corey, NHS, 23:36; 37 Donovan Hursh, NHS, 23:55.9; 42 John Engberg, SHS, 25:04.3; 43 Nathaniel Fuller, NHS, 25:10.4; 45 Nate Lindahl, NHS, 25:38; 46 Ahmed Benmoussa, NHS, 25:40.3; 47 Connor Smith, NHS, 25:50.5.

JV Girls

1 Kayla Raboin, SHS, 17:36.3; 2 Emilyn Walters, SHS, 17:42.1; 3 Anna Kalin, NHS, 17:52.7; 4 Kelly Erkkila, NHS, 18:04.2; 5 Miranda Rothe, Herm., 18:11.2; 7 Maggie Dahl, SHS, 19:09.1; 8 Mariah Nelson, NHS, 19:30.6; 11 Sabrina Martinson, NHS, 20:08.4; 13 Alyssa Rhodes, SHS, 20:15.3; 15 Abby Hanson, SHS, 20:19.3; 19 Brandee Dittbrender, NHS, 21:13.7; 22 Nichole Greely, NHS, 21:58.4.

Tags: sports, preps, tigers, spartans, runnings, updates