It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Loyola-Cleveland cross country team.
On Tuesday of last week, the Crusader competed just north of Norwood Young America on a familiar Baylor Park course, and on Saturday, the varsity teams were back in action at a huge, multi-state meet in St. Paul.
In Baylor Park on September 15, the Crusader varsity girls took second place among the 16 teams. They were eight points behind winner Westonka, a 2A school.
Meanwhile, the varsity boys were 10th among the 25 teams and fifth among the Class A teams.
“Norwood is always a fun meet because it's a fast course, and we get to race some different teams,” said head coach Casey Olson. “All but two of our athletes across all races set a PR or season best, which made it exciting to watch throughout the evening.”
It was a lonely race for Charlotte Meyer as the sophomore rolled to an 18:19.1 finish, 40 seconds ahead of any of the other 131 runners, for first place.
She attributed her improvement from her time at the Montgomery meet a week prior to sticking to her food regiment.
“I felt a lot better today.”
Lyla Quast was 12th (20:20.9), Gisele McCabe was 21st (20:54.5), Riley Quigley was 22nd (20:55.3), and Kaitlyn Anderson was 38th (21:20.9).
Griffin Rutz (above) turned in the best time for the Crusaders. His 17:38.6 finish was a 20 second PR and good for 26th place among the 169 competitors.
Rutz is working to crack the 17 minute mark.
Rollie Matejcek was 35th (17:50.0), Reece Nelson was 45th (18:11.4 for a 20 second PR), Jack Green was 87th (19:09.4), Carson Fahrforth was 105th (19:30.9), Luke Kortuem was 124th (20:15.9 for a 30 second season best), and Jackson Bilitz was 133rd (20:52.7).
“I've been really impressed by Reece so far this season,” Olson said. “He's doing all the extra things he can to be as strong as possible, and it's so cool to see it pay off with him taking off almost a minute and a half from his pre-season PR. He's going to have a fun year.”
Running the JV boys 5K, Anthony McCabe, a freshman new to cross country this year, upped his best time by a minute to finish in 26:05.6 for 165th place among the 185 runners. For the JV girls, Harper Rutz’s 30:09.8 put her in 79th place of the 99 runners.
In the C squad mile, eighth grader Jase Blaschko finished with a 6:32.4 for 42nd place among the 128 runners and a 12 second PR. Crossing the finish line in 6:55.3, seventh grader Reid Johnson finished in 68th place.
“I think we're in a good spot right now and I'm excited to see what we can do by the end of the year,” Olson said. “It's nice to get some early-season validation for the work we've put in with some faster times, but as always, the work is far from over. The kids approached today with a positive mindset and excelled throughout the race.”
Girak Invitational, September 19
The following Saturday morning, the varsity team ran at the University of Minnesota’s Griak Invitational on the Fort Snelling Golf course.
The meet is the largest high school meet in the state and has four races. The Championship race is the most competitive with the best schools in the Upper Midwest competing. The Gopher race, in which the Crusaders competed, was for schools that are not in the Championship but have top individuals. Team competition among the Gopher, Maroon and Gold races is roughly equivalent.
“We had a great day,” Olson said. “The course was flat and fast, but the muddy conditions from the rain and the number of competitors on it before us slowed it down a touch. I think this was an honest effort that reflects where we are at this point in the season, so seeing their efforts pay off in fast times is really encouraging.”
Among the 18 Crusaders at the meet, 11 of them set PRs and another five had season bests with the remaking two within 10 seconds of a season best as well.
With a season best 18:08.7, Meyer had the third best time of the 237 runners in the Gopher heat and was 28th of 1002 overall runners. The winning time in the Gopher was 17:33.7, and the overall best girls time was 17:09.9. The Crusaders took a respectable fifth place among the 29 Gopher teams.
Griffin Rutz’s 17:29.4 set a 9 second PR and was good for 64th place among the 225 runners.
Nelson’s 18:07.2 set a 4 second PR and put him in 109th place. With 1:22 off his PR over the last two weeks, Nelson is rapidly emerging as a top Crusader.
Kortuem’s 19:55.8 for 186th place was a 19 second PR.
“The name of the game was effort, competition and fun,” Olson said. “With the top teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas, Griak has an atmosphere that isn't replicated at any other meet in the state, including the state meet. Coming to this meet and racing competition we'd never see otherwise is hopefully a fun experience that teaches us that we can push through adversity and stress, and it hopefully gives us a little confidence that we can hang with some of the top teams and bigger schools.
“It's pretty rare to see a school our size going toe-to-toe with schools the size of Lakeville North, Fergus Falls and Chanhassen, but that's exactly what our girls did, so the atmosphere and level of competition will hopefully prepare us well for the end of the season. We're going to get to see a lot of our conference and section competition over the next month, so this was a nice way to cap off the first half of the regular season.”
On Tuesday of this week, the Crusaders competed at the New Richland Invitational, which was held this year at the Blooming Prairie Country Club as the New Richland course had flooding issues (see upcoming story).
Charlotte Meyer makes her way around the fast track at NYA's Baylor Park.
Reece Nelson’s stock has been on a steep incline this season.
Luke Kortuem set a PR at Baylor Park.
Harper Rutz at Baylor Park.
Anthony McCabe runs through a tree-lined path during the JV 5K at Baylor Park.
Jase Blaschko in a crowded junior high mile at Baylor Park.
Reid Johnson in the junior high mile at Baylor Park.
The boys varsity team at the Girak Invitational: from L-R, Griffin Rutz, Jackson Bilitz, Luke Kortuem, Carson Fahrforth, me, Ethan Beenken, Jack Green, Rollie Matejcek and Reece Nelson. Photo courtesy of Casey Olson.
Charlotte Meyer, front row, second from right, on the winner’s podium at the Roy Griak Invite. Photo courtesy of Casey Olson.