Jays finish season strong

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The cold and snow didn’t seem to hamper the Blue Jays during the Class A state cross country meet on Saturday at Heart River Golf Course in Dickinson.

Both the Jamestown boys and girls teams matched their state finishes from a year ago in conditions that mirrored more of December than October. The day’s temps only reached into the mid-20s, with snow and wind mixed in to boot.

“I don’t want to say it was nice, but as far as we responded it was nice to have some cold weather over the last week or so, so we could get mentally prepared,” JHS coach Ken Gardner said. “I think they were well prepared and responded well.”

The boys finished 13th out of the 18 teams, with six of 10 runners posting a personal best in the 5K. Senior Michael Sorenson ended his Blue Jay career as the team’s No. 1 runner on the day. Sorenson finished in 55th place in a time of 17:29.1.

“(Sorenson) seemed to peak well at the end of the season and came through and was our No. 1 runner here at the state meet,” Gardner said. “It was nice to see him go out on a high note like that.”

Freshman Kyle Schumacher finished No. 2 for the Jays placing 60th in a time of 17:36.7, while junior Aaron Ford placed 76th in a time of 17:51.6.

Senior Phillip Manley and sophomore Hunter Braunberger rounded out Jamestown’s top five, respectively. Manley finished 99th (18:32.8) with Braunberger crossing in 100th (18:34).

“Kyle was our No. 1 runner for most of the season. He’s only a freshman so we’ll be looking for a lot out of him in the future,” Gardner said. “Hunter, a tenth-grader, moved up into our top five for the last three meets and competed really well.”

Others competing for Jamestown included senior Kyle Gee (18:37), freshman Jakob Lorig (18:46), eighth-graders Luke Bowman (18:50) and Cole Burkle (19:24), and junior Alex Igl (21:04).

“We finished in the same spot as last year, and we just need to work on moving up that ladder,” Gardner said. “But the runners really peaked well.”

The Blue Jay girls finished 15th out of 18 teams. It was the same spot as they finished last year, but the improvement the team made from this year to last is a bit deceiving.

Last year the Jays finished 15th with Alison Allmer taking second overall, and this year Jamestown placed 15th with their No. 1 runner posting a 61st-place finish.

“I think the team ran better than they did last year,” Gardner said. “Allmer took second last year and that really moves you up the ladder as far as the team finish. Without her running this year and to maintain that 15th spot was good to see.”

Allmer has been sidelined with health issues during her senior season, but she was still selected by the coaches as the North Dakota girls cross country Outstanding Senior Athlete of the Year on Saturday.

“That was good to see. She was there at the meet and was able to receive the award,” Gardner said. “That award is really a career award, and that was nice to see.”

The team was paced at state by its three eighth-graders Maya Moltzen (61), Ligia Schulz (80) and Rachel Morin (99). Moltzen posted a time of 16:33, while Schulz crossed in 16:48 and Morin finished in 17:13.

A total of five of Jamestown’s 10 runners posted personal bests in the 4K.

“(Moltzen) has been our top runner all season and ran really well. A personal best,” Gardner said. “Schulz also ran a personal best.”

Freshman Jaslyn Fossen was Jamestown’s No. 4 runner, posting a time of 17:19 (110), while seventh-grader Teralyn Coombs rounded out the team’s top five with a run of 17:51 (124).

“Fossen joined the team partway through the season and finished the season out well with a personal best by well over a minute,” Gardner said. “Seventh-grader Teralyn Coombs rounded out the top five. We have a really young team over on the girls side.”

Others racing for Jamestown included Emma Bennett (17:57), Nikki Fritz (18:28), Lindi Chadwick (18:28), Kristen Gee (19:06) and Anna Larson (19:57).

Complete results of the meet are available at jamestownsun.com.

Sun sports writer Michael Savaloja can be reached at (701) 952-8461 or by email at msavaloja@jamestownsun.com

Tags: cross country, sports, jays