SIOUX FALLS – Some of the top runners in the Class A portion of the State Cross Country Meet were from Region 1A Saturday afternoon at Yankton Trail Park.

From Milbank Area to Clark-Willow Lake to Aberdeen Roncalli, the region had a big impact on the state field.

“Conference and regions, we were like wow, Clark-Willow Lake’s looking really good and so is Aberdeen Roncalli,” said sophomore Ashlynn Batchelor of Milbank Area, “so we knew it would be a good race for conference and regions, and it really showed in the state meet, I feel like.”

Batchelor led that delegation by finishing in third place in a time of 18:32.98, her top time ever.

“My personal record I had 18:39 from 8^th grade,” Batchelor said, “and today I had an 18:33, so I’m really happy about that.”

The finish helped to erase the frustration of last season when Batchelor suffered a stress fracture.

“It’s really nice weather and I’m so excited to get to run this season,” Batchelor said, “because last year was really bad.”

Other Region 1A girls’ place winners included Clark-Willow Lake’s Kamryn Nesheim (19:10.66) who was 11th, Madison Zirbel of Waubay-Summit (19:32.78) who was 20th, and Jaycee Hourigan of Deuel (19:42.40) who was 25th.

Not far off that pace was Roncalli eighth grader Addison Cassady who was 30th in a time of 19:55.70.

“Honestly, I’m proud of my region and how well we can do,” Cassady said. “I love the people I run with. They’re so kind and I really enjoy running with them.”

Cassady said she was having a few breathing issues during the race, but perservered.

“It was difficult because of the pain, but I just fought through and I thought of my family,” Cassady said. “Everybody was here cheering me on, and my team.”

The Cavaliers finished 11th in team points. Other runners included 52, Hazel Kannegieter (20:36.02), 65, Paige Schmidt (21:03.19), 76, Sarah Schmidt (21:14.65), 107, Clare Peterson (22:21.20), and 121, Greta Peterson (23:28.14).

Roncalli coach Brady Lesnar said those times are some of the best in program history.

“It’s hard to tell when you have such a big meet, but you have to look at it. You’ve got the best 100-and-some girls running,” Lesnar said, “and so when the race unfolds and you see them at a certain spot, what’s fun though is, all those girls ran some of their best times of the year. Addison just ran her fastest time ever, 19:55 which is third in our school records. Hazel Kannegieter just ran a 20:36, which is probably our fourth fastest time now in school history in the 5K.”

Sioux Falls Christian won the girls’ team title, led by Corrine Braun, who capped off the final race of her high school career by bolting past the field to claim the individual title.

“I took two months off at the beginning of the season, so I didn’t really have a first part of the season,” Braun said, “and the second half was like K, you’ve already missed a bunch, you’ve got to give it all you’ve got for the last couple of races and then I don’t know, I just did it.”

Braun wasn’t sure how much she had left, but gained confidence as she moved from fourth place to the front of the field.

“I told myself fourth was good, and then I was like OK, move up to third place,” Braun said, “and then I was like K maybe I can pull it off, and I’m really excited I did.”

Region 1A runners also made a big showing in the boys’ division as well.

Milbank Area’s Payton Brown finished off his career with a third-place finish behind state champion Luke Rupert of Hill City and runner-up Lane Krautschun of Belle Fourche. Brown said it took a lot of support to push him to the third-place finish.

“It took the team to push me a lot and all of the people around me, they were talking to me the whole time. They were saying ‘let’s go, we’ve got to push ourselves,’” Brown said.

Brown was also fueled by fellow competitor Pierce Baumberger of Miller, who finished directly behind Brown in fourth place.

“The Miller kid pushed me a lot. He got right behind me,” Brown said. “We just kept catching people, one by one, one by one, so yeah, that’s what pushed me.”

Brown described his strategy as he was running.

“I wanted to get out really hard, and I saw Joe Cross (of Dakota Valley), and I knew he was going to get out and push the pack for the first mile,” Brown said. “And then the Hill City (kid) broke off and so I was like I just need to stay with Joe, and then I just kept moving on from there, catching people.”

Brown’s teammates James Batchelor and Bryan Meyer finished 23rd and 24th, helping the Bulldogs earn a fourth-place team finish. Brown was excited for the entire team.

“We did not expect Bryan, our third guy, to get top 25, so that was awesome that he got up there with us,” Brown said. “And then our fourth guy got top 30; he was supposed to get like 50th, so the team’s eating good tonight.”

Brown was thankful for the community of Milbank for their support.

“Milbank means a lot to me; the people, the town, running a lot miles there,” Brown said. “Spent a lot of time in town even though I’m a country boy, so it means a lot to me.”

Tri-State runner Kaleb Foltz, also from Region 1A, earned a 17th place finish to cap off his cross-country career, which felt good for the senior.

“It feels good. Season best so super happy with it and couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Foltz said.

Foltz said the emotions were getting the best of him early before he pushed toward the end.

“I wasn’t really feeling the best coming into it,” Foltz said. “A lot of nerves, just got to be in the moment, and had a good kick at the end.”

Foltz was glad to cap off his career representing the school he loves.

“It feels great. Couldn’t have asked for a better school. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. Just awesome,” Foltz said.

Other area Class A boys with a top 25 finish included Alex Schumacher (16th) of Miller.

Roncalli’s Paul Gutenkauf finished 71st with a time of 18:13.21.

Lesnar noted it was one of his senior’s best times ever.

“I’m really proud of him and the efforts that he gave,” Lesnar said.

To see complete meet results, click on the following link:

https://results.dakotatiming.com/display.html?event_id=1367