Cross Country: Watertown girls record best conference finish since 2003
BROOKINGS — For the second year in a row, Watertown High School's girls cross country team continued to show its improvement with a solid performance Saturday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet at the Edgebrook Golf Course.
The Arrow girls had four all-conference (top 15) performers and matched their best finish in the ESD since 2003 by finishing in third place with a score of 82. Brandon Valley won its fourth-straight title with a score and Harrisburg took second out of eight teams with a score of 48. Watertown was fourth a year ago in its best finish since 2009.
Watertown's boys finished seventh out of nine teams with a score of 160. Yankton won with a score of 60, followed by Brandon Valley at 76 and Aberdeen Central 88.
Brandon Valley freshman Addison Scholten repeated as the girls division champion, winning the 5,000-meter race in 18 minutes and 56.94 seconds. Watertown senior Emma List (eighth, 20:18.76), junior Victoria Smith (ninth, 20:24.65), seventh-grader Olivia Anderson (13th, 20:31.54) and eighth-grader Kate McElroy (14th, 20:33.11) each earned All-ESD honors. Smith and McElroy are repeat All-ESD runners from last year.
Harrisburg senior Cashton Johnson won the boys race in 16:01.73. Watertown freshman Ty Sullivan earned All-ESD honors by taking fifth in a time of 16;53.86.
Watertown's Grace McElroy won the junior high girls' 3,000-meter race in 11:33.5.
The Watertown runners are slated to compete Thursday in a meet at Huron's Broadland Creek Golf Course, the site of the state meet on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Girls Division
Team Scores: Brandon Valley 32, Harrisburg 48, Watertown 82, Pierre 116, Aberdeen Central 125, Yankton 149, Huron 176, Brookings 186.
Top 15 Individuals (All-ESD) — 5,000 Meters — 1. Addison Scholten, Brandon Valley, 18:56.94; 2. Presli White, Harrisburg, 19:36.83; 3. Addison Reilly, Harrisburg, 19:44.98; 4. Sarah VanDeBerg, Brandon Valley, 20:04.32; 5. Bria Miller, Harrisburg, 20:09.60; 6. Lillian Rude, Brandon Valley, 20:09.81; 7. Devyn Van Roekel, Pierre, 20:17.68; 8. Emma List, Watertown, 20:18.76; 9. Victoria Smith, Watertown, 20:24.65; 10. Reagan Askdal, Brandon Valley, 20:28.81; 11. Shelby Bergan, Brandon Valley, 20:29.59; 12. Juna Ramey, Aberdeen Central, 20:30.55; 13. Olivia Anderson, Watertown, 20:31.44; 14. Kate McElroy, Watertown, 20:33.11; 15. Thea Chance, Yankton, 20:39.56.
Other Arrows: 41. Grace List, 21:56.10; 42. Isabella Horning, 22:06.61; 61. Jayda Jensen, 24:43; 69. Ava Jensen, 27:04.60.
Boys Division
Team Scores: Yankton 60, Brandon Valley 76, Aberdeen Central 88, Harrisburg 104, Pierre 108, Brookings 146, Watertown 160, Huron 167, Mitchell 237.
Top 15 Individuals (All-ESD) — 5,000 Meters — 1. Cashton Johnson, Harrisburg, 16:01.73; 2. Jared Lutmer, Pierre, 16:20.44; 3. Dylan Payer, Yankton, 16:43.46; 4. Mikah Peters, Brandon Valley, 16:51.18; 5. Ty Sullivan, Watertown, 16:53.86; 6. Zach Fedde, Yankton, 16:54.36; 7. Tino Lopez, Aberdeen Central, 16:58.79; 8. Cheech Harman, Huron, 17:00.33; 9. Paul Kern, Brandon Valley, 17:04.19; 10. Tyler Groen, Brandon Valley, 17:06.51; 11. Hunter Patton, Mitchell, 17:07.81; 12. Harrison Krajewski, Yankton, 17:15.14; 13. TJ Lien, Huron, 17:18.35; 14. Caleb Morris, Pierre, 17:21.98; 15. Camden Coughlin, Brandon Valley, 17:23.26.
Other Arrows: 35. Dane Stark, 18:14.79; 37. Bayley Steiner, 18:18.56; 42. Gabe List, 18:38.99; 44. Chris Bevers, 18:44.96; 45. Isaiah Norton, 18:48.62; 63. Briley Martin, Watertown, 19:14.89; 65. Ayden Steiner, 19:29.02; 66. Ben Peterson, 19:45.24.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Five Watertown runners earn All-ESD honors with top 15 finishes.
