By RYAN WALKER
All three of the Wells County schools kicked off their 2023 cross-country seasons at the annual Bob Dahl Invitational at Norwell High School Saturday morning.
Dahl, a longtime head coach for boys and girls cross country at Norwell High School, was in attendance but helping the Bluffton Tigers teams as an assistant coach.
The Knights’ boys’ team ended up as the top finisher in the county in both races earning second place. The team scored a 93 overall, falling short against Yorktown, who put up 43 points.
Freshman Gage Reinhard led the pack with a final time of 19:00.6 and was in 10th place overall as an individual. The rest of Norwell’s finishers were Gavin Threewits in 16th with a time of 19:12.1, Elijah Jacob 21st (19:45.0), Luke Johnson 22nd (19:58.2), Lukas Mashuda 24th (20:00.3), Kale Meredith 55th (21:35.7), Zathan Westfall 61st (21:46.3), and Parker McCartney 71st (22:25.6).
Full team race results can be found at the end of the article.
Head coach of the Knights, Cody Hannie, was happy with the result of the race for the most part, although he found some kinks to sort out.
“It went well, as expected, probably. Had a couple guys go out too fast,” Hannie said after the race. “So it’s a learning experience. You can preach it all day, but until they do it and learn the repercussions of it. Next week, we’ll bounce back. We’ll learn from today.”
Right behind Norwell in third place was Bluffton, the 2022 ACAC and sectional champion. The group returned all but one of its runners from last season and is expecting big things.
No expectation might be higher than head coach Michael Vanderkolk’s, who thought perhaps the Tigers could have had a better showing at Saturday’s meet, especially in the back end of the lineup. However, he is encouraged that his boys got the first race out of the way to build upon.
“Four through 10 (runners) definitely were packed together there – I think we do have some work that we need to do,” Vanderkolk said. “We came out of the woods, and guys were out of position, out of where I thought that they would be, and it definitely hurt us a little bit today, but again, we wanted that to happen again so we can address it overall.”
The story of both of the races went to senior Tyler Godwin, who has been the dominant leader for Bluffton’s success in recent years.
Godwin led for the majority of the race but, right at the last few steps, was edged out by Yorktown’s Wyatt Turner by a margin of .01 of a second. He finished the day in second with a time of 17:18.0.
Of course, Vanderkolk wants his team to win every race, but he doesn’t need his senior to place first in the first one of the year.
“I mean, it’s heartbreaking winning the race for about 4,900 meters — getting a lead like 100 meters in and even in the last 10 meters for what my brother (Robert Vanderkolk) said,” he said. “Definitely going to be frustrating for him, but this isn’t the race we need him to be top form at, and if our season highlight was going to be winning the Norwell Bob Dahl Invitational, then that’s not really a season I want us to be a part of.”
The rest of the finishers for the Tigers were Levi Johns seventh (18:23.9), Jude Baumgartner 19th (19.25.0), Griffin Linderwell 34th (20:25.6), Ayden Teeple 38th (20:35.8), Jackson Rockwell 40th (20:56.2), Aidan Graves 41st (20:57.5), Brett Kuhlenbeck 54th (21:33.7), Branson Claghorn 62nd (21:48.7), and Manning Nash 78th (23:16.1).
Southern Wells picked up a ninth-place finish with 224 points overall, and its top finisher was Jarin Frauhiger in 29th place with a time of 20:15.0.
The Raiders topped New Haven and Alexandria in the standings, and also incomplete finishers by Fremont and Blackhawk Christian.
Kane Jenkins and Jackson Rockwell finished in the top 40 for the team to help its team score.
Jenkins finished 37th with a time of (20:33.5), Peyton Ellis 39th (20:54.6), Kelton Barr 66th (22:10.7), Miles Garrett 67th (22:10.8), Aiden Carroll and 73rd (22:52.3).
Head coach Monica Edgeman, the head coach for the boys’ and girls’ teams, was not in attendance at the meet.
On the girls’ side, Norwell also put out the best performance, finishing fourth with 76 points.
Leo was the overall winner at 54 points, followed by Yorktown and Eastbrook, each with 68 points.
Last season, Norwell won the sectional and regional races with a young group that included four freshmen. This year, the Knights remain young, as five of the eight varsity runners that competed Saturday are underclassmen.
“They ran strong and were in great headspace,” head coach Vanessa Hannie said. “I am proud of how they have started the season, and now that we have a baseline, we can build from here. Those who have put in work this summer are faster already than this time last season.”
Ashley Waldman was the top girls’ placer on her team and in the county with an eighth place finish overall with a time of 22:05.7. Elizabeth Norris, Hleigh Reinhard, and Brooklyn Meyer also were top 20 finishers for the Knights.
Norris finished 15th with a time of 22:43.5, Reinhard 18th (23:16.5), Meyer 19th (23:20.9), Addison Meyer 34th (25:11.9), Alana Cady 37th (25:21.2), Kylee Hannie 39th (25:30.1), and Teagan Lesley 44th (25:44.1).
Bluffton finished eighth, which was last of the schools with a full lineup. Six others received an incomplete for the meet.
The Tigers had a team score of 239, and their top runner was Dakota Lee in 55th with a time of 22:43.2. Following Lee was Reagan Harris in 62nd (28:44.9), Amarah Robles 67th (30:21.9), Kierstynn Reed 68th (30:21.9), Alydia Bertsch 78th (34:24.4), and Sophia MAyne 80th (35:57.2).
Head coach Vanderkolk was proud of his Tigers, who are much smaller in terms of total runners on the roster than the boys and are looking to compete at a higher level than last year.
“I’m proud of the way the girls fought all the way through,” he said. “I know coming into this year, we’re just looking to be competing more and more as a team every race, and I’m just definitely proud of the way that the girls competed today and pushed every mile, every step.”
Southern Wells only had four runners, so it did not get a team score and a final place.
Adeline Sabinske finished the day as the top runner in 66th with a time of 30:05.9. Following Sabinske was Chanie Mounsey in 72nd (32:14.1), and Shaylinn Geesaman 73rd (32:41.3).
Boys team scores
Yorktown first 48, Norwell second 93, Bluffton third 100, Garrett fourth 108, Lakewood Park Christian fifth 126, Eastbrook sixth 130, Bellmont seventh 153, Adams Central eighth 163, Southern Wells ninth 224, New Haven 10th 264, Alexandria 11th 322. Incomplete Fremont and Blackhawk Christian.
Girls team scores
Leo first 54, Yorktown Eastbrook second 68, Norwell fourth 76, Adams Central fifth 92, Garrett sixth 151, Belmont seventh 185, and Bluffton eighth 239. Incomplete Alexandria, Southern Wells, New Haven, Lakewood Park Christian, Fremont, and Blackhawk Christian.
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