By Alan Van Ormer
Tribune editor

Area cross country coaches were pleased with how their runners improved from the first week of the season to the second week.
Dell Rapids St. Mary coach Cami Fitzgerald felt the Cardinals ran a lot stronger in Salem. “We tested our endurance and gave a little more push,” she said. “We still continue to work on our pace, so we aren’t saving too much or have too much left after the race.”
Dell Rapids coach Steve Hegge said it was a positive day for every runner. “I felt a lot of the nerves were gone from the first meet and the kids ran more relaxed,” he said.
Baltic coach Kurt Schultz said his team was disappointed in the first cross country meet in Beresford. “They have some self pride and wanted to do better,” he said.
All three teams competed in the McCook Central Cross Country Invitational at the Salem Golf Course on Sept. 1.
Fitzgerald said Salem is a large meet for the team. “It can be a bit overwhelming, but it is nice to have a lot of good competition,” she said. “It really helps push the athletes even more.”
For this early in the season, this is a big meet, Schultz said.
On the girls side, Garretson won the team title with 16 points. Lindsey Bohl was the medalist crossing the finish line in 15 minutes and 25 seconds. Dell Rapids was fourth with 49 points, Dell Rapids St. Mary was ninth with 83 points and Baltic ended up 12th with 113 points
For the boys, Wessington Springs was the team champions with nine points. Mitch Kraft and Drew Kraft finished first and second in the cross country meet. Dell Rapids was third with 50 points and Baltic was 16th with 138 points.
Eighth grader Chandler Derschan was the first Quarrier female runner to cross the tape. She finished in 15th place.
Derschan said the hills were tough and she did her best to get up the hills.
“I think I did well overall,” she said. The key for the young runner was to run hard when on the straight part of the run. “The runners in front of me I tried to pass them,” he said. “I tried a little harder this race. It was a little cooler and that made it easier to run.”
Also competing were Brittney Schlaikjer, 18th, Sam Steineke, 33rd, Lexi Snyder, 49th, Megan Leebens, 59th, Rachel Devlin, 63rd, and Shaylea Schreurs, 85th.
Hegge said missing Morgan Van Dam and Haley Fiedler due to illness, was unfortunate, but the girls’ placing fourth out of 30 schools was great. “Chandler and Brittney ran strong,” he said. “Sam Steineke has been very impressive these first two meets.”
For the Cardinals, Anna Wolles finished 20th, and said she surprised herself. “It hurt, but it was worth it,” she said. “It was good to push it to the limits.”
The key for Wolles was not thinking about the pain. “I think positive thoughts,” she said. “I try to catch the girl in front of me.”
Wolles said this meet was a larger meet than what she was used to. “It challenged me,” she said.
JJ Everist finished 25th and Gina Wolles was 64th.
For Baltic, Danya Johnson was the first runner to cross the finish line in a time of 17:54. She ended up 41st. Heidi Moen finished 45th in 18:14, Greta Gildemeister ended up 56th in 18:40, Ellie Hofer, 62nd in 18:55 and Susan Wallrich, 83rd in 20:41.
On the boys side, Connor O’Hara followed up last week’s third place performance by finishing third in Salem in 17:30.
“Connor ran with a lot of confidence and placed very well,” Hegge said. “Kody Kramer is another runner who is starting to look very good.”
Kramer finished the race in 35th in 19:16. Also running was Taran Xavier, 21st in 18:33 and Evan Leebens, 41st in 19:28.
Xavier said he was pleased with the way ran today considering how he performed in the last race.
“The first race of the season I wasn’t pleased with my time,” he said. “I had a lot better run.”
For Dell Rapids St. Mary, Jonathan Farmer finished 80th in a time of 21:08. Baltic runners competing included Ethan Johnson, 29th, in 18:51, Fritz Gildemeister, 61st, in 20:19, and Matt Moen, 69th, in 20:43.