WEBSTER – While the conditions were about as opposite as night and day, there was a strong resemblance of last week’s Lake Region Conference meet in Ipswich at Wednesday’s Region 1B cross country meet in Webster.

Korbin Stark of Faulkton and Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern both won their individual races for the second straight week. However, the environment switched from calm and warm on a flat course at the LRC meet, to cool and blustery on a hilly course at the region.

While the winners said that races were more difficult, each welcomed the challenge.

“This is even better,” Stark said of the region victory. “There’s more competition here than there was at conference, and a lot of great runners out there that are going to push me. So I needed to go out and do my best.”

Not only was the competition stiffer, so was the terrain.

“It’s just another challenge that you need to conquer,” Stark said. “It’s almost more fun to go through these hard courses, because they push you and it shows what kind of runner you really are.”

Boekelheide also talked the differences between the two courses.

“I like how this one made me push myself,” she said, “but the other one definitely felt better.”

The Webster course features one final incline before a slope helps to propel the runners to the finish line.

“It’s really hard because you see the watch go off, three miles, so you know you’re getting close,” Boekelheide said. “You can see the finish line, but yet that last push is really hard to fight for.”

Boekelheide said her last two meets will help her to prepare for next weekend’s state meet out in Rapid City.

“Last week I kind of got that confidence, getting that PR (personal record), and this week showed me how to push myself,” Boekelheide said, “so I think I’m prepared going into state.”

James Valley Christian won the boys’ team championship, with Estelline-Hendricks second, and Frederick third.

Frederick sophomore Titus Kippley talked about the finish to the course, which helped the runners to finish strong, especially with a strong south wind at their backs.

“It was tiring, but coming down that hill there with that wind, that was a big advantage to pick up speed there and helped us a lot,” Kippley said.

While the Titans were up to the challenge on a challenging course, Kippley said there is also a price to pay.

“Our coach is always telling us that we’re strong on hills,” he said, “but it always hurts a lot more than the other meets.”

Like the LRC meet, Ipswich’s Madisyn Gellhaus was runner-up to Boekelheide. However, the junior had to grind this one out, trailing several runners heading down the stretch.

“It was hard,” Gellhaus said. “The JVC girls were really pushing me and Tara (Blachford) of Northwestern. It was tough.”

Gellhaus decided to make her move well before the finish line to ensure she had enough of a lead to carry across the finish line.

“Probably with about 1,000 meters left is where I took off, because I know that I don’t have enough foot speed, where if I waited too long then I wouldn’t have been able to catch them and they would have beat me out,” Gellhaus said. “So I have to be able to go a little bit earlier, so that I can make sure that I have enough in front of them to make that kick.”

James Valley Christian captured the girls’ team title, one point ahead of Northwestern, and two points ahead of Ipswich. Warner was just seven points behind. The Monarchs ran with heavy hearts as team leader Kennadee Wagner had her dad Scott pass away of cancer Tuesday night.

“My heart goes out to Warner today, because of Kennadee losing her dad (Tuesday) night,” Gellhaus said. “Everyone did a really good race and I’m proud of how everyone finished today.”

Warner coach Jeff Larson said the family had a plan knowing of the situation.

“Dad talked about her running regardless of what happens, so they already had a plan they would come out today,” Larson said. “As a coach, you’re kind of hey if you need to take off, take off, but they had this plan. She was really running for him and with him today, and that was a key component.”

Larson said the girls have rallied around each other this cross country season.

“Our main purpose this year, we have a talented group of girls, but our main purpose was to just draw closer together, just rely on one another,” Larson said. “And when you see a situation like this come in hand, we’re just so much better because we have that family atmosphere on our team. That was really, really important and she felt that as well.”

Aberdeen Christian was unable to qualify any runners for the state meet.

Clara Herreid finished 24th overall. The eighth-grader knew where she was at in the race, but unable to close the gap to finish in the top 20.

“Everybody that came to watch me was counting,” Herreid said of knowing her position in the race. “I told them whoever is watching me, better be counting.”

Teammate Joseph Richards finished 26th and also missed out on a chance to go to state.

The freshman plans to work out more in the off-season to prepare for his next chance. Like the other runners, he had to deal with the strong windy conditions.

“It was super windy,” Richards said. “That’s what killed me up the hills, going around curves.”

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

https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/242563/results/all