Vikings run well at Hibbing

Left: Sophie Honeder is not only new to cross country, but new to America as well. The foreign exchange student from Austria with the bright smile ran her best race to date at the Hibbing Invitational, finishing in 19:43 for the 4k race. Middle: Will Seaton ran a strong, steady race at Hibbing, finishing the 5k distance in 20:14. Above right: Showing great form, Jake Bilben sped to the finish line in the team’s first race of the season at Pincushion. Jake had a great race at Hibbing.

It was a tough week at cross country practice beginning with mile-long hill repeats up the Gunflint Trail. Watching the kids run this workout gives you an opportunity to see just how tough our Vikings really are as they push through the pain. Despite a hard week, they continued to show their strength and ability to work through discomfort when they raced at the Hibbing Golf Course on Thursday, September 26.

We finally had an opportunity to run against Moose Lake/Willow River/Barnum, which will be a strong team in our conference meet in the coming weeks. Our varsity boys ended up taking third place behind Crosby Ironton and Proctor. Our varsity girls took 5th place behind International Falls, South Ridge, Moose Lake/Willow River/ Barnum and Crosby Ironton. Both of our JV teams ended up taking home the first place trophy!

The Hibbing racecourse is a flat and boring course for our Vikings as they are used to lots of hills and variations in the terrain. Today the goal was to keep focused on the race and set small goals of passing people to keep the mind engaged in the race.

 

All racers worked hard but a few of them stood out with outstanding performances. Maya McHugh, a young runner, really worked on chasing down Moose Lake and also Greenway (they beat us at Milaca). She kept on working ahead and moving forward the entire race, finishing up 16th.

Sophie Honeder, our exchange student from Austria, had a huge race improvement. She worked hard the entire time, all the while having a smile on her face! Unfortunately, she is unable to contribute to our varsity race since she graduated from a school in Austria… bummer!

Marin Hay was another runner who stood out on this race. She is new to cross country and she tried going out conservatively and working her way up throughout the race. It worked well for her. She has a great amount of focus on the competition.

On the boys’ side, Kiviok Hight from Two Harbors went out with Joey Chmelik this time and hung on. He had a great race and was crucial in helping the team score so well.

Will Seaton, Steady Eddy, is so reliable. He is a good runner to send out new athletes with who are shooting to go with varsity because we know he will be consistent. With each year his consistency stays but moves to the next level. On this day he really did a great job and went after the competition.

Finn Garry has set his sights on making varsity and he has put in much work. Today, he found a way to focus on the competition and keep himself moving forward. He ran a great first 5k!

Rusty Day is another athlete who deserves a gold star! On this day, he went out with a little more guts, he hung tough during the middle of the race, and he moved forward a bit sooner than normal for a strong finish.

In the junior high race Lynden Blomberg, who is learning the art of racing, has learned how to run a nice consistent race and Jake Bilben continues to use his strength to keep running faster times.

There are always so many great performance stories, and reflections to hear from each of these athletes. Times and places follow as I just highlighted a few in this article.

It is so inspiring to work with this group of hardworking individuals who put their heart out on the line and try their best. The Vikings will race next on Saturday, October 5 at the Swain Invitational in Duluth.

Varsity Girls

Junior Varsity Girls

Varsity Boys

Junior Varsity Boys

Junior High Boys