IPSWICH – It turned out to be completely different scenarios for race winners at the Lake Region Conference Cross Country Meet at Ipswich Wednesday morning.

Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern ran away from the field en route to winning her fifth consecutive LRC championship, while Faulkton’s Korbin Stark pulled away down the stretch on the way to winning his first conference title.

The Ipswich girls and Frederick boys secured team crowns.

It was business as usual for Boekelheide, who led from start to finish and won the race by more than 90 seconds in a personal record time of 17:43.33.

“Running is …. obviously a team sport, but when you’re actually in the race running, it’s just you,” Boekelheide said. “So every single race, it’s me vs. me, and every single time I just try to push myself harder and harder and try to break that mental barrier of, ‘Oh, I’m so tired.’ You have to be strong. That’s how I keep running fast.”

The conditions were a bit unique for a meet, which started and finished on the running track, and went around the baseball diamond and rodeo grounds, with music from the 70s and 80s blaring in the background.

“As I was running by I heard Eye of the Tiger,” Boekelheide said. “That got me pumped up a little.”

While the junior noted that every cross country course is different, she still pays close attention to times and uses that to measure progress.

“I try to compare it to last year’s meet here just to gauge myself,” Boekelheide said. “I obviously know that some courses are faster than others, so then when I’m looking at times, or comparing stuff, I keep that in mind, but every course, it’s legit. You get to take the times.”

And Boekelheide’s times are definitely legit as she prepares for the upcoming region and state meets.

“There’s always room for improvement and I’m always looking to improve,” she said, “but I would say I’m at a pretty decent spot right now.”

Stark also recorded a personal record time of 16:52.54 on the way to winning the boys’ race, but unlike a lot of runners, did not wear a watch to look at his time.

“It’s something that I should probably do so I know where I’m at,” Stark said, “but I’ll stick to what works.”

Make no mistake, Stark was still focused on time as he found another gear to sprint to the finish line.

“I realized that I was going for time towards the end,” Stark said, “and I just figured I might as well kick it in and get every second I can.”

While Stark owned a lead throughout the race, the sophomore had a tough time shaking free of Frederick’s Milo Sumption until late in the event, eventually winning by 18 seconds.

“We’ve been pushing each other all year,” Stark said. “He’s a great runner. It’s fun to go with him.”

Stark has a goal to return to the state meet again this season after finishing 23rd there a year ago.

“I just want to get to state, get back there. I want to earn another medal,” he said. “It’s something that I did my freshman year and I was really excited. I want that feeling again.”

Madisyn Gellhaus of Ipswich finished runner-up in the girls’ race to help power the Tigers to the team title. The squad just recently had enough runners to be able to score team points.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work with our whole team,” Gellhaus said. “This is only the second race where we’ve had a full team.”

The junior said it took a team effort and boost from coach Todd Thorson to capture the team crown.

“It’s probably because of our teamwork together. We all show up every morning before school,” Gellhaus said. “We just did 12 400s three days ago and Coach Thorson is a big part of it. He’s a really big supporter. He’s always talking us up and always says how proud he is to be our coach, and that’s a big part for it.”

Sumption was pleased that the Titans won the boys’ team title after coming close in recent years.

“It feels good. It means as much to me as it does the guys that I used to run with,” Sumption said. “I’m sure they’ll all be happy to hear it.”

Sumption is used to battling with Stark, whether on cross country courses or football fields. The two share a mutual respect and bring out the best in each other.

“Whenever he’s there you know you have to go out and compete. We’ve duked it out all year. I win, he wins, that’s the way it is. It’s good competition,” Sumption said. “I like it. Always good sports, we even see each other on the football field, rare dual-sport athletes. I like that. Phenomenal athlete as well and great sport.”

Sumption is a member of the undefeated Leola-Frederick football squad.

“Right now our football is doing phenomenal,” Sumption said. “Shout out to those guys.”

Aberdeen Christian had two varsity runners competing in the meet who are gearing up for next week’s region after just missing qualifying for state last year. Clara Herreid and Joseph Richards both clocked personal best times on Wednesday.

“It’s another step in the right direction,” said Herreid, who was disappointed in her performance at the Roncalli Invitational a couple of weeks ago. “I definitely have some more work to do to make it to state, but this is a lot better. I’m pretty happy.”

Herreid continues to lower her times heading into the biggest meet of the season, in hopes of qualifying for state.

“I feel like I definitely have a good shot,” she said, “but it’s all up to however I run next week.”

Richards had his best time by 20 seconds. He said it’s tough to tell exactly where he’s at on the unique course at Ipswich.

“With all the twists and turns it’s kind of hard to tell,” he said, “but it’s pretty flat.”

Richards is hoping to take another 40 seconds off his time at the region next week, which will take place at Webster, which is not a flat course.

“Just have to grab up those hills and do long strides down the hills,” Richards said, “just keep pushing myself.”

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

https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/249141/results/all