Mounders race through hills of Mondovi, flat lands of Durand

On a sunny and muggy day in Mondovi Sept. 22, the Elk Mound cross country teams ran through the hills of The Valley Golf Course, resulting in a third place finish for the girls in a field of seven and a seventh place for the boys with nine complete teams. (Melrose-Mindoro won both team titles). Two days later both Mounder teams had a chance to compete on the course in Durand which will be the site of the Dunn-St. Croix Meet next month. The girls placed fifth of 12 teams while the boys were tenth of 14 total teams.

Mondovi

The Mounder girls continue to step up as Elizabeth Fasbender placed fourth of 63 competitors in a time of 22:50 which was just 27 seconds behind the winner Sydney Becker of Melrose-Mindoro. Alana Plaszcz was seven seconds behind Fasbender for fifth place in 22:57 and following them in the individual standings were Hannah Cedarblade in 29th at 27:49, Meredith Hainstock in 32nd at 28:26, Hanna Hollister in 33rd at 28:27, Ciera Lind close behind for 37th place in 28:52 and Claudia Paul in 43rd at 29:55. Also competing for the Mounders were Audrey Westcott who was 47th in 30:27, Mattea Linberg for 51st in 31:28 and Kaitlyn Baier in 43:10 for 63rd. Brook Plaszcz started the race but was pulled out at the two mile mark for precautionary measures.

“Some nice things came out of this meet for the girls,”coach Jeremiah Fredrickson said. “Elizabeth ran well and some of our new runners continued to show improvement while Alana and Brook are both coming on strong.”

Grant Kjellberg led the Mounder boys across the finish line for the first time this year, placing 23rd out of  78 runners with a time of 21:40. Hayden Kohls followed in 29th place at 22:11, Nate Kruger was just three spots back in 22:19, Ryan Mohr was chasing them down, finishing 36th in 22:30, Jemeson Rubenzer was four seconds back in 22:34 for 37th, Jonas Kohls placed 38th at 22:36 and close behind was Nate Lind in 41st at 22:51. Nate Schreiber was 48th at 23:33, Jake Johnson finished in 53rd at 24:21, Dylan Hanson was 57th in 25:15, Bowdrie Noller followed in 62nd in 26:02 and William Stone was 75th at 32:43.

“Our boys ran okay as a team,” Fredrickson said. “But we need some people to start pushing a little harder and then we will be okay. I thought Grant mentally was prepared for the course and was outstanding running the hills,” he added.

Durand

Several of the Mounder girls lowered their times from the Mondovi meet as Fasbender clocked in with a time of 22:16 for sixth place overall while Alana Plaszcz was one spot behind in 22:26. Cedarblade finished in 31st at 25:14, followed by Hainstock in 41st at 26:41, Nevada LaPoint in 47th at 27:05, Hollister in 49th in 27:17 and Lind was the seventh runner in for 52nd at 27:31. Paul placed 62nd in 27:49, Hannah Carlson 69th in 28:35, Westcott was 72nd in 28:50, Corrine Zimmer 76th in 29:24, Elayne Gutsch 82nd in 29:55 and Margaret Tamke was 99th in 38:58. There were 100 individuals in the race which was won by Kassye Todd of Elmwood-Plum City in 21:36 while Colfax won the team title.

With 129 runners in the boys’ division, Sam Bell of Ellsworth finished first in 16:59 while the team title went to Altoona. Several of the Mounder boys also lowered their times as Hayden Kohls crossed the finish line first for the team, finishing 36th as an individual in 20:44. Kruger was 42nd in 20:55, Lind 47th at 21:03, Mohr 57th in 21:28, Kjellberg 65th in 21:51, Jonas Kohls 67th in 22:04, Schreiber 77th in 22:23, Rubenzer 79th in 22:27, Johnson 84th in 22:39, Noller 101st in 23:34, Matt McLaughlin 103rd in 23:54 and Stone 125th in 29:06.

The Mounders’ next race is at Osseo Sept. 1.