CROSS COUNTRY: Top runners return for Lumberjacks

BEMIDJI - Both Bemidji High School boys and girls cross-country teams have their top runner back from a year ago, and both squads are looking to make a run at another trip to the Class AA state meet.
On the boys side, Caleb Appleton returns as does sophomore Linaes Whiting and senior Isaac Berg - the Lumberjacks’ top-three runners from last season.
With so many runners returning, head coach Ryan Aylesworth is excited about his team’s prospects this fall.
“The boys only lost one returner from last year (Billy Freyholtz),” Aylesworth said. “So we return six of our seven, we should have a good shot to be in the hunt at section again.”
In order to advance out of sections the boys must place at least second as a team in a tough Section 8AA division.
Willmar, Sartell-St. Stephen, Rocori, Monticello and Moorhead are a few of the teams the Bemidji boys will have to watch for this season.
“Moorhead is always pretty strong,” Appleton said. “They’ve got a couple (seniors) and a couple (underclassmen) who are going to be strong this year. Willmar is definitely a top team to go against right now.”
The girls will also be setting their sights on Willmar.
Willmar has a plethora of returning runners from a section championship a year ago and a third place at the Class AA state meet.
“There a few good teams at sections like Willmar,” said sophomore Sadie Hamrin. “We’d love to be right up there again because we’ve gone to state and we’d love to get back.”
The Lumberjacks will have a few more holes to fill on the girls side with Jenna Truedson and Megan Serratore both graduating and moving on to run in college.
Hamrin was Bemidji’s top runner a year ago and joining her is her sister, senior Sarah Hamrin, and twins Arie and Anna Gislason.
They’ll be looking to make up for lost time left by the senior departures.
“I think it’ll make us run faster because we see those spots we have to fill,” Sadie said.
Arie is also using the open spots as motivation for herself this year.
“It’s a good goal to go for,” she said.
There is a big change in the girls side of cross-country this season as the races are changing from 4,000 meters to 5,000.
This is the first time for a few of the athletes they’ll ever have to run a 5K.
“Some people have never run 5K,” Sarah Hamrin said. “We don’t really know exactly what to expect with our times, but I think a lot of us are faster than we were last year.”
Both the boys and girls will get a chance to see where they are soon enough and compare against a few of the top teams from sections when they travel to Moorhead next Monday for the Shocky Strand Invitational.
The races start at 10 a.m. at the Moorhead Meadows Golf Course.
“It’s our first meet of the year pretty much every year,” Aylesworth said. “There will be some good competition with tough teams from our section. Willmar and Moorhead will be there and they’ll be some teams we’ll have to compete with and try to beat if we want to be successful.”