Girls team takes eighth place at section meet

The Otter Tail Central cross country teams wrapped up their seasons at the section meet on October 29.

Staples-Motley took first place with 48 points and West Central Area was second with 58 points at the Section 6A boys’ cross country meet on Friday, Oct. 30 at Minnewaska Area High School in Glenwood.  Those two teams, along with the next six individual qualifiers, headed for St. Olaf College in Northfield on Saturday for the Class A state boys’ cross country meet on Saturday, Nov. 6. 

The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs ended up in sixth place out of the 21 teams, which is an improvement from eighth place last year. Rounding out the team scoring were Sauk Centre (123), Bertha-Hewitt (124), Benson/KMS (189), Otter Tail Central (211), Minnewaska Area (230), Morris Area/Chokio-Alberga 234), Breckenridge-Wahpeton (246), Osakis (266), Wadena-Deer Creek (274), Ashby-Brandon-Evansville (310), Border West (323), Parkers Prairie (347), Ortonville (350), Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (450) and Pillager (454).

In his last cross country race of his career Isaac Scherfenberg led the Bulldogs as he finished in 33rd place. Then came a wave of OTC runners with Blake Alozno in 37th, Joseph Froslee in 41st, Peter Newark 49th, Talyn Setterholm 51st, Jonas Hegemesiter in 56th and Kyle Tierney in 67th.

“The guys had the lowest spread (time between first and fifth runner) out of any team here today,” said coach Brady Speicher. “Our strength all year has been how well we work together during races and that showed to be true today. These guys had an awesome season, if we keep this growth as a program I see the Bulldogs battling for a trip to state next year.”

In the girls race, the Bulldogs finished eighth as a team, an improvement from 16th last year. The team title went to Staples Motley followed by Minnewaska Area to earn berths to the state meet. 

The girls were led by Kyleigh Shebeck in 26th place, who ran a strong race despite battling an injury the last two weeks of the season. Norah Froslee finished in 34th with Erika Heibel right behind her in 39th. Allyson Goodman, Laney Frost rounded out the scoring five in 54th and 59th, while senior Raenne Frost and seventh grader Delia Tebrugge finished in 65th and 67th respectively.

“The girls showed steady improvement throughout the season which is always a good sign. Overall we are a really young team with only losing one senior this year,” said Speicher. “If we are able to get a couple of girls to come out next year I believe we will have an outstanding season next year.”

OTC boys results: 33. Isaac Scherfenberg 18:50.6, 37. Blake Alonzo 18:53.8, 41. Joseph Froslee 18:59.8, 49. Peter Newark 19:17.6, 51. Talyn Setterholm 19:20.8, 56. Jonas Hegemeister 19:29.9, 67. Kyle Tierney 20:12.9

OTC girls results: 26. Kyleigh Shebeck 21:50.2, 34. Norah Froslee 22:27.1, 39. Erika Heibel 22:41.5, 54. Allyson Goodman 23:48.9, 59. Laney Frost 24:00.8, 65. Raennae Frost 24:23.3, 67. Delia Tebrugge 24:39.2.