Janessa's 5th State Meet

Janessa Meuleners has once again made it to the state meet held Saturday November 2nd.  Her race will begin at 1:00 pm at St. Olaf College in Northfield.  We encourage you to come and cheer on Janessa.

Spectator Parking & Shuttle Service. Spectator parking is available at four remote parking lots at the southeast end of St. Olaf campus. Large red signs will direct spectators to these lots. Shuttle service to and from campus will be provided from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on race day. The pickup and drop off points will be posted with large red “Bus Stop” signs. Please note: Spectator parking is not allowed in any of the Skoglund Athletic Center parking lots.

Turn in your uniforms

It is time to celebrate a successful cross-country season.  This Sunday November 3rd, is the awards potluck.  It will be held in the high school lunch room starting at 6:00 pm.  Plates, cups, plasticware, napkins, and drinks will be provided.  Please have your uniform cleaned and turned in by then so we can give you any awards that night.

Section 2A meet

Belle Plaine had an excellent showing in its return to section 2A.  The boys turned in their best ever section finish in 6th place and the girls were 5th, matching their second best finish ever.  The girls 4000 meter race was first on the Montgomery National Golf Course.  Janessa Meuleners ran an impressive race finishing 5th in 15:39 to earn her 5th consecutive trip to the state meet Saturday November 2nd.  Alissa Schultz finished in 25th place in 16:42.  Danika Schroeder placed 36th in 17:07.  Skylee Schwingler place 50th running a 17:32 and teammate Hannah Witt rounded out the scoring for the tigers in 60th with a time of 17:42.  Trinity Webb ran an excellent 17:54 and BreAnn McDermand ran an 18:27.  The girls team once again earned academic gold honors with a combined GPA of 3.95.

The boys squad was led by Dylan Bigaouette finishing in 27th place with a time of 18:06 followed closely by Brendan Mackedanz in 29th place with a time of 18:09.  Max Hughes was next across the line in 37th place running an 18:17 with Kellen Bergs close behind in 18:18.  Carter Olson placed 51 in 18:36 rounding out the scoring for the tigers.  Carter Corl finished with an 18:55 followed by Kris Corl in 19:03.  The boys earned gold academic honors in the section with an overall GPA of 3:81.

It was an outstanding end to a very successful year.  The end of the year awards pot luck will be held in the high school lunch room Sunday November 3rd beginning at 6:00 pm.  Please turn in your clean uniforms as soon as possible.

JV Finale

We were handed some disappointing new 2 days before the section 2A meet.  The JV race had been called off.  The directors of the section decided we should not be allowed to have an unofficial JV race following the Varsity competitions.  So we improvised and held our own end of the season event for our JVers.

We set up a course, 4000 meters for girls and 5000 meters for boys and had 19 of the 25 kids ran their PR.  First across the line was Nate Loegering in a spectacular 18:01 a new PR, followed closely by Hailey Witt in 18:11.  Tyler Schumacher completed the course in a new PR of 18:28.  Fourth across the line was 7th grader Jessica Brueggemeier in her new PR time of 18:31.  Fifth was Junior Courtney Fogarty in her new PR time of 18:34.  Next was 8th grader Kyle Siemon in his new PR 18:39, followed closely by Derek May in 18:48.  Taylor Witt ran his personal record finishing in 18:50 with veteran senior Corey Krautkremer one second off her personal record close behind in 18:59.  Another 7th grader, Jamie Zahn rounded out the top 10 covering the 4000 meter course in 19:01 her new PR.  Seventh grader Elliot Rudd improved his PR over 5000 meters to 19:02, with 7th grader Kailey Noll right behind him in 19:04, her new PR.  13th place went to 7th grader Nicolle Lundsten in a terrific time of 19:46.  Tristan Cruz a seventh grader crosse the line next in a new PR time of 20:01, followed by teammate Alexa Lenz in 20:19.  Emma Reed a seventh grader and Senior Tori Schroeder cross the line simultaneously in 20:34.  Sophie Mewes a seventh grader lowered her PR to 20:59 with Nick Covington PRing just behind her in 21:19.  Hayden Cody smashed his previous PR finishing in 21:23 with Jesse Barringer hot on his heals, improved on his 5k time finishing in 21:23.9.  Ethan Keohavong improved his PR to 21:38, while fellow seventh grader Jaron Funk improved to a 22:00 PR.  Tyler Bahr came across the finish in an impressive 22:04 with John Morrison scorching his PR finishing in 22:27.

To top it all off the kids were treated to cookies and milk at the Witt's house.  These young kids have had a terrific year.  They have worked incredibly hard and improved consistently.  It has been fun interacting with all the energy and excitement these kids bring to practices and competition.  They can be very proud of what they have accomplished this year and we as coaches are very excited about the future of Belle Plaine Tiger Cross-country.

Thanks for the great year!

Section 2A meet Montgomery

The section 2A cross-country meet will be held at the golf course in Montgomery.  Girls 4000 meter race starts at 4:00 pm, boys 5000 meter race at 4:45.  Awards will take place at 5:30.

The JV race that was scheduled has been canceled.  Any member of the team may come along and cheer.  The bus is leaving at 2:30.

We will be stopping at the Pizza Ranch in New Prague on the way home, so bring some money with you.

MRC Championships

by Lisa Jamison

Throughout this entire cross country season we have seen a lot of exciting events take place with the Belle Plaine Cross Country team. First and foremost the Varsity Girls dominated Conference and successfully defended their Championship without four of the runners who ran varsity last year. Two of our newest runners added to the crew are in Junior High and showed a lot of guts and grace as this big conference championship race was only their 3rd time racing at the 4,000 meter distance. Not only did these Junior High girls PR by a substantial amount they also scored points as our #4 runner (8th grader Skylee Schwingler placing 13th overall PR 17:09) and #5 runner (7th grader Hannah Witt placing 15th PR 17:13). The other phenomenal runners include Junior Captain Janessa Meuleners placing 4th 15:43, Sophomore Alissa Schultz placing 8th PR 16:24, Sophomore Danika Schroeder placing 10th PR 16:36, Senior Captain Breann McDermand placing 28th 18:03 and Freshman Hailey Witt running with a cold and a head full of snot placing 33rd 18:20. To top off the Varsity’s win Meuleners, Schultz and Schroeder walked away with top ten MRC All Conference honors!

However the Belle Plaine Cross Country team is more than just the seven girl varsity runners and the seven varsity boy runners. In fact on both our squads we have seen many different faces lined up at the varsity starting lines throughout this season’s meets. But we have also seen multiple 1st place team finishes from our Junior Varsity and Junior High teams. Thursday October 10th’s MRC Conference Meet was no different!

Junior Varsity boys stole the MRC Conference Championship with an impressive 4th-11th place finish. Belle Plaine boys kicked it into high gear after Jordan’s boys finished 1,2,3 and in the end Belle Plaine boys edged the Jordan boys out of a trophy by just 1 point. 4th place was Junior Captain Max Hughes with another phenomenal PR of the season18:50, right behind him 5th place Junior Captain Carter Olson 18:59, 6th place Junior Tyler Shoemaker 19:06, 7th place Freshman Nate Loegering PR 19:15, 8th place 8th grader Kyle Siemon 19:25, 9th place Sophomore Sam Gregory 19:27, 10th place Sophomore Taylor Witt 19:29 and 11th place Sophomore Derek May 19:29.6. Our other amazing racers included 17th place Sophomore Steven Lajeunesse PR 19:50, 1st year runner Sophomore Brenden Solheid PR 20:53, Sophomore Noah Mewes 21:52, First year runner Junior Nick Covington 22:14, Sophomore Ryan Bremseth-Vining 22:18, Freshman Hayden Cody who set a new PR every time he raced this year 23:44, Freshman John Morrison 23:53 and Sophomore Bryce Nelson 25:44.

Junior Varsity girls rocked conference defending their 2012 conference championship. Sophomore Trinity Webb was the first one through the shoot with a PR of 17:49! Sophomore Kacie Staples placed 5th with 18:45, Freshman Emily Krautkremer placed 6th 19:19, Junior Courtney Fogarty placed 9th 19:19, Senior Captain Corey Krautkremer placed 10th 19:28, Freshman Alexa Lenz PR’d to place 14th 19:58 and Freshman Selin Dikmen also PR’d placing 16th with 20:30. The rest of our exceptional Junior Varsity girls include Freshman Kate Haege with a huge PR of 20:53, Sophomore Allison Lunsten21:52 and Senior Captain Tori Schroeder 21:58.

Junior High was not about to be out done by their upper classman peers. Junior High boys crushed their competition earning their conference championship with six boys covering this hilly 1 mile course in under 6 minutes and placing 1-3,9-10, 12,14. 1st place 7th grader Elliott Rudd PR 5:35, 2nd place 8th grader Noah Hastings PR 5:36, 3rd place 7th grader Mikkel Schmidt PR 5:40, 9th place 7th grader Tristan Cruz PR 5:56, 10th place 7th grader Jesse Barringer PR 5:58, 14th place 7th grader Braydon Setterquist PR6:12, 20th place 8th grader Kenny Dvorak PR 6:21. Rounding out the phenomenal Junior High milers was Jaron Funk 7th grader PR 6:30, Ethan Keohavong 7th grader PR 6:35, Luke Hallgren 8th grader PR 6:49, Tyler Bahr 7th grader 6:54, Noah Stiemke 7 grader PR6:56 and Logan Peterson 7th grader PR 7:16.

Of course we can not forget Belle Plaine’s Varsity Boys team. As a team these boys are getting stronger and stronger. At the 2012 MRC Conference Championship they were counted out by almost all of the other teams. But with all 7 of the boys PR-ing by almost 1 minute each they were able to pull off a huge surprise 4th place finish and send shock waves through the conference as the 2012 team was made up of 6 underclassman and 1 senior. 2013 proved to be an even better year as they were in the hunt to place in the top three in conference and did just that finishing 3rd place behind a very strong Jordan and TCU team. This year’s conference squad was comprised of 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 3 Sophomores and a Freshman, this is just a glimpse into the future for them! Sophomore Dylan Bigaouette placed 5th receiving All-Conference honors with a PR of 17:43. Behind him running on a very sore but healing sprained ankle was Sophomore Brendan Mackedanz who placed 14th 18:08, Freshman Kellen Bergs placed 19th 18:26, Senior Captain Kris Corl out sprinted his brother in the last 200 meters for 20th place 18:41, Carter Corl placed 21st 18:44, Junior Tony Dvorak placed 34th 19:47 and bringing in the rear with a leg injury Senior Captain Zander Stier placing 47th 20:55.

The cherry on top after all the MRC championship races were complete was the absolute and total domination by the Junior High girls with their perfect score of 15 allowing them to successfully defend their conference championship title. Placing 1st 7th grader Jessica Brueggemeir PR’d with a 6:32:3,2nd place 7th grader Jamie Zahn PR 6:32.4, 3rd place 7th grader Cassie Stolt PR 6:33, 5th place 8th grader Grace Ludvik PR 6:47, 6th place 7th grader Kailey Noll PR 6:50, 10th place 8th grader Vanessa Rosales 6:53, 11th place 8th grader Thea Iverson PR 6:54, 12th place 7th grader Sophie Mewes PR 7:04, 16th place 7th grader Nicolle Lundsten PR 7:10, 18th place 7th grader Sophie Wright PR7:14 and 20th place 7th grader Emma Reed PR 7:50.

Congratulations Conference Champions

Congratulations to the repeat MRC champion Girls Varsity.  Boys Varsity 3rd behind TCU 2nd and Jordan 1st.  JV girls and boys teams also were champions along with the Junior high boys and girls.  The girls Junior high won with a perfect score of 15.  Congratulations to Trinity Webb, girls JV champion, Jessica Brueggemeier, girls Junior High champion, Elliot Rudd, boys Junior High champion.  Nice Job everyone.

 Congratulations Dylan Bigaouette on your 5th place all conference finish!

 Congratulations Janessa Meuleners, Alissa Schultz and Danika Schroeder on you all MRC performances.

Woot, Woot!

Spaghetti Dinner Friday at Oakcrest

The cross-country team is hosting a community wide spaghetti dinner this Friday at Oakcrest elementary.  We will serve from 4:30 to 7:30.  There will be no practice.  Athletes show up at Oakcrest after school to work.  Any parents that would like to come and help you are welcome to join us anytime.  See you tomorrow.

Homecoming Relay

Thank you to all the parents that helped out on the Homecoming Relay.  Once again it was a great time the kids will remember.  We couldn't do it without you.

Big Week Coming Up

This is Conference week.  Thursday the MRC meet will be held at Baylor Park north of Norwood.  Students will be dismissed at 1:30 to catch the 1:45 bus.  Races begin at 3:30.

3:30 JV Girls 4000m
3:40 JV Boys 5000m
4:15 Varsity Girls 4000m
4:45 Varsity Boys 5000m
5:15 JH girls 1600m
5:30 JH boys 1600m
5:45 Awards

Friday is our annual spaghetti dinner.  We will be serving from 4:30-7:30pm.  We will need parents to help out the kids any time from 3:30-8:30.  We will need cooks, servers, and clean up personnel.

Saturday morning is the communities half marathon and the cross-country team sponsors 2 water stops.  This involves handing out water along the course usually from 9:00 to Noon.  The coaches are running the 1/2 marathon so the kids will be manning the stations on their own.  Any parents wanting to be involved are welcome.