Far Left: Charging hard, Levi Axtell led the first 300 yards of the Milaca crosscountry meet. Although he didn’t win, Levi ran a fine race and finished in 18:58 for the5krace.Above:Sarah Schied ran 17:19 for 2.5 miles and placed 91st overall in the girls’ race. Left: Ben Seaton finished in 18:32 to place 74th. The boys’ team finished 16th and the girls’ team placed 15th at Milaca, the largest high school cross country meet in America.
Our eight vehicles, 30 high school racers and 15 coaches and parents looked like a pretty good-sized caravan going down I-35. But we were just a fly on the back of a buffalo when we arrived at the 5,600-racer, 300- team Milaca MegaMeet. With a stop on the way down in Two Harbors for a dinner put together by our Two Harbors teammates, and an overnight at Hinckley with a pool, movies and all the fixings, we got over to Milaca by 9:00 a.m. for the all day meet. The weather was perfect for running, hundreds of team tents were up, the music was blaring, and thousands of kids were roaming around the Stone’s Throw Golf Course.
We had most of our kids entered in the varsity and JV races that started around noon, but we had some very competitive runners in the girls’ 8th grade race and the boys’ 7th grade race. Alyssa Martinson set the tone for us in the meet, placing 39th out of 223 in the girls’ race. Her time of 14:03 for two miles was one of our best ever junior high girls’ performances at this tough meet. Jake Paron’s 12:52, 30th place finish in the 7th grade boys’ race was every bit as strong. His teammates Finn Garry – 15:47, and Andy Kern – 16:49, turned-in solid first time performances at Milaca.
It didn’t take that much time before our varsity boys’ team toed the line. With no superstars, 3 freshmen and only one senior on the 7-member varsity team, we don’t have unrealistic expectations for our boys. They have been quietly moving up the competitive ladder, partially by pushing each other every time they run.
At the gun, 175 runners from 35 teams were off like a shot. First-year runner Levi Axtell couldn’t resist the opportunity, and sprinted into the lead for the first 300 yards, despite 3 of the top 5 rated runners in the state. Normally, we drill the concept of an even paced race into the kids, but Levi isn’t known as The Beast for nothing. He’d recover and finish strong.
Soon, we were in our accustomed pecking order—Ben Seaton and Joey Chmelik in the top third, Levi close behind, Pete Summers, Nate Carlson, Will Seaton, and Sean MacDonell grouped a ways back. Down in a shallow valley about a ¼ mile from the finish, we impatiently awaited the finishing parade.
Great to see fellow Section 7A runner Matt Welch of Proctor destroying the high rated field by about 150 yards. As usual, the Esko boys came together in a loose pack. Soon after, we spotted Joey with Ben in tow. Great job! Joey finished in 65th, with the 15th best boys’ time in Viking history of 18:20.
Ben was 12 seconds back in 74th. Levi was next in 18:58, moving onto the Vikings’ alltime honor board. Freshmen Pete and Sean completed our scorers with 19:31 and 19:51 times for the 5-kilometer (3.1 mile) race. A short ways back were Nate in 20:09 and Will in 20:43. The boys finished 16th in the team standing, a big move up from last year.
Next up was the varsity girls’ race. We’ve been very optimistic about our varsity girls. Senior Sarissa Falk has been one of the strongest runners in Section 7A, knocking on the door for an individual state qualifying spot later this season. And the rest of the varsity girls have been on a roll after a great summer training effort.
At the gun, Sarissa led our girls in the 34 team, 170-runner field, but was back in about 90th place. She looked determined and confident on each of the four loops we saw her. And it worked, as she moved up to 31st in 16:10, the 5th best time in Viking girls’ history. (She also beat over half of the 2nd rated Esko girls’ team – very cool.)
Unfortunately, No. 2 Viking runner Matea Acero was out with hip bursitis. Fortunately, senior Sara Schield improved on her best, running 17:19 for the 2.5-mile course and placing 91st. She also dragged teammate Abi Seipke to a personal best of 17:23. A very short distance back, Morgan Weyrens- Welch made our honor roll with a 17:52, with 7th grader Maya McHugh hanging on for an 18:03. Audrey Summers continued her return to last year’s top form, running 18:27, while Ruby Walsberg filled in well for Matea with a 19:27. As a team, the girls finished 15th.
The junior varsity races are always the biggest spectacle at Milaca, and this year was no different. Both the boys and girls races had 500 competitors. Besides the crowd, the range of quality of the performances is vast. The winners run state meet quality times, the end of the pack just hopes to run the whole way. First-year senior runner Meadow Adams led our girls, running an excellent 19:46, good for 273rd. Mara MacDonell was next, with a personal best time of 20:10. Going to go sub-20 for sure! Cailan Carpenter improved to 21:34. Michaela Peterson ran the whole 2.5-mile course and beat some people in 28:07.
Roman Schnobrich led our JV boys in 21:02 for 3.1 miles, and served notice to our varsity boys that he’s ready to challenge for a spot. Owen Cruikshank improved by 3 minutes to run 21:12. Collin Berglund ran through a bad cold in 21:22, just ahead to Drew Christensen’s 21:25. Rusty Day ran a very good 22:28, while August Carpenter ran his first 5K in 23:00, just ahead of Everett Hommes 23:08. As a bonus, the boys finished 39th of 54 A & AA JV teams.
The Grand Finale of the meet is the “Old Timers” race. With the only requirement being that you were over 18, it doesn’t look like an old timers race to me. They mostly look like kids. This year we had a big Viking contingent in the 150+ runner field. Recent Viking alumni and collegiate runners Dan and Anna Schield, joined legitimate old timers Mark Falk, Treg Axtell, Dave Seaton, Beth Schield and me in this fun-when-you’redone run.
At the gun, we were off on the junior high 2-mile course. Dan bolted ahead and out classed us in 12:30. I hung on to Anna (despite injured Head Coach April Wahlstrom’s “cheer” near the finish of “Anna sure looks better than you!”) as we ran 13:09 and 13:15. Dave Seaton, who was right on my back as normal, ran 14:04. Ultra trail runner Mark Falk ran his first short race in 14:41 –“back to the long runs” I heard him say. Beth led the old time ladies in 16:08, while Treg Axtell (“My knees don’t usually see the sun” and “I’m well rested for this”) finished in 16:21. My standing offer of a Dairy Queen to any Viking junior high runner who beat my time is due Jake. Seems to cost me more with each passing year.
Next up for the team is the Hibbing Rotary Invitational Thursday, September 27. Maybe Optimus Prime, our purloined mascot, can be reclaimed?
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