Packers show their stuff in home meet
Published 6:55 pm Tuesday, October 11, 2022
From left, Pacelli's Kirsten Koopal, GMLOS's McKenna Hendrickson and Austin's Marissa Shute run in the Packer Invite at Meadow Greens Golf Course. Herald file photo
Pacelli's Yong Achouth runs at Meadow Greens Country Club Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Austin's Thomas Asmus pursues and Albert Lea runner. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Austin's Thomas Herrick runs for the Packers. Herald file photo
Austin's Sydney Lewis, left, and Kya McManus run in the Packer Invite. Herald File Photo
Members of the Austin boys cross country team take off at the Packer Invite Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Packer cross country team had to make sure it kept its nerves in check and paced itself as Austin dealt with high winds and warm temperatures in front of a big crowd on its lone home meet of the season.
With some runners for various squads limping to the finish line with injuries, Austin’s Thomas Herrick was able to keep his cool as he overcame some early struggles to finish in fifth place overall.
“If you go too fast at the start, you get a pain in your breathing and you can’t recover from that,” Herrick said. “I kind of had a little bit of that and you can’t really anticipate how that wind affects your breathing. It’s hard (to pace) because you see all of the fans out there yelling your name and you get an adrenaline rush.”
The Packer boys finished in fourth place out of eight teams and the Austin girls took third.
The Packer girls were led by Marissa Shute, who took third, and eighth grader Sydney Lewis took fifth. Lewis, who swam last season for the Packers, is the younger sister of multi-time state qualifier Abby Lewis and she competed with her cousins Lexi Lewis and Kendahl Lewis, who both run for Pacelli, on Tuesday.
“I just wanted to try something new while I was still in middle school,” Lewis said. “I hadn’t really figured out what I’d like the best. My family has run for a long time and I thought I’d give it a try. I really like it a lot. It was fun to run against my cousins today.”
Sydney is enjoying her time with the family pastime and she’s also reached out to Abby, who is now a senior cross country runner at UW-Eau Claire, for some running advice.
“Abby has helped me out with a couple of things,” Sydney said. “She’s told me to keep a good mindset and to tell myself that I’ve got it.”
BOYS RESULTS
Team standings: 1. Winona 46; 2. Albert Lea 46; 3. Lake City 86; 4. Austin 89; 5. GMLOS 127; 6. Byron 174; 7. La Crescent 174; 8. Pacelli 212
Austin: Thomas Herrick (fifth, 17:36.34); Joseph Hilkin (17th, 18:31.68); Thomas Asmus (21st, 18:47.48); Noah Sash (22nd, 18:49.62); Cade Morrison (24th, 18:53.69); Joseph Garry (28th, 19:24.86)
GMLOS: Tate Goergen (14th, 18:16.60); Carter Glynn (16th, 18:30.40); Cohen Wiste (29th, 19:28.88): Teague Alden (30th, 19:29.32); Erik Shaw (38th, 20:15.48)
Pacelli: Yong Achouth (34th, 19:48.06); Isaac Nelsen (35th, 19:56.80); Grayson Bickler (41st, 20:33.77); Andrew Frederick (50th, 21:56.46); Jack Klingfus (52nd, 23:56.60)
GIRLS RESULTS
Team results: 1. Lake City 54; 2. Byron 68; 3. Austin 70; 4. Winona 84; 5. Albert Lea 121; 6. GMLOS 170; 7. LaCrescent 174; 8. Pacelli 184
Austin: Marissa Shute (third, 20:39.82); Sydney Lewis (fifth, 21:14.04); Kya McManus (eighth, 21:35.27); Grace Vortherms (24th, 22:40.14); Lilly Wiese (30th, 23:31.78); Cassidy Shute (31st, 23:38.33)
Pacelli: Lexi Lewis (16th, 22:09.40); Kirsten Koopal (19th, 22:17.27); Kendahl Lewis (47th, 26:23.94); Lizzy Frederick (49th, 26:32.04); Abby Christopherson (53rd, 30:32.68)
GMLOS: McKenna Hendrickson (fourth, 20:54.72): Katy Ottman (35th, 24:19.93); Namoi Warmka (38th, 24:58.94); Aubrie Schneider (45th, 25:40.29); Delaney Alden (48th, 26:29.44)
