What does a boys’ first-place cross country team look like? Look no further than the North Shore Storm, pictured here. Starting in front L-R: Noah Smith, Jake Paron, and Kevin Viren. Back row from left, Brenden Seipke, JRon Tamanaha, Will Surbaugh, and Leif Anderson.
It was a hot day on the range this past Thursday, September 14. Our North Shore runners are not accustomed to this type of weather. However, they powered through gaining a second place finish behind Proctor in the girls’ race and the boys took home the championship trophy.
Competition began with the girls “A” 5k varsity and JV race. The field was once again taken by Mesabi East’s Ava Hill; she held a comfortable lead and finished in first place with a time of 20:03. Leading our team on this day was eighth-grader Autumn Smith in 8th place with a time of 22:08. Smith’s pack mates Cedar Gordon finished in 10th place with a time of 22:20, and Louise Ramberg was in 13th place with a time of 22:46. Maya McHugh was our fourth runner finishing in 23:49. McHugh was followed by Kate Walsberg in 24 minutes, Isabel Schottenbauer in 24:37 and Claire LaVigne in 24:53. We were eight points behind Proctor and six points in front of Mesabi East. It will be an exciting season to see how these girls continue to perform.
Left: Running hard, Claire LaVigne helped the girls’ varsity to a second-place finish. Right: Malin Anderson placed first in the junior varsity race at Eveleth.
Our JV girls also raced well and won the team competition. Malin Anderson finished first in 25:38. Other top JV finishers were Brooklyn Smith in 26:31, Robin Henrikson in 28:09 and Chloe Blackburn in 28:15. This crew led the rest of their teammates to some decent races.
The boys followed with another strong race that was perfectly executed and they were grouped up and packed nicely. Jake Paron took the field out and continued to gain ground on the rest of the runners with a time of 17:11. Noah Smith raced smart and sat in the fourth position. He waited until the last mile to make his move and placed second in 17:40. Will Surbaugh went out strong and settled in with a good pack and finished in ninth place with a time of 18:27. Our fourth and fifth runners were in perfect position to help us win the title. Brenden Seipke finished 19th in 19:06 and Leif Anderson placed 33rd in 20:05. Breaking onto the varsity with huge personal records were JRon Tamanaha with a time of 20:56 and Kevin Viren with a time of 21:05.
Our North Shore JV boys also won the boys’ JV race. JC Holman was the JV champion with a time of 21:51. Andy Kern followed him in second with a time of 21:57. Henry DeArruda-Weaver, Tanner DeBoer and Trent Spry rounded out our JV team with huge personal best times as compared to other seasons.
As we move through the season it is fun to watch these kids improve but it has also been fun to watch them come together as a team. They encourage each other, they push each other and through training with each other they have also learned how to trust their own bodies to be pushed to the limit. We are looking for a strong season for North Shore Storm Cross Country.
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