The Lisbon Broncos girls and boys cross country teams pause for a photo at the East Region met at Cooperstown October 17. In the front row: (l to r) Thomas Horgeshimer, Elena Lee, Tyann Henderson and Whitney Toyne. In the back row: (l to r) Jacob Gallagher, Josh Hinkemeyer, Connor Stotts, Kieran Hall, and Donovan Williams. Not pictured is Corwin Cavett. The girls placed 11th and the boys placed 6th at the meet.

by Joe Howell
Longtime Northwood coach and athletic director, John Hutchison, was asked recently by the Grand Forks Herald to predict the East Region cross country meet that was held in Cooperstown on Saturday, October 17.  Hutch predicted that Griggs County led by Taylor Palmer and Maggie Moen would not win any individual races but would lead the Cougars to a team championship.
Hutchison also predicted that the Rugby boys would win their second straight title and that one of four individual runners would grab the gold in the boy’s division, and Griggs County would dominate the girl’s division.  Dylan Yoder of Rugby, Bridger Belzer of North Star, Anthony Askew of Cavalier, and Adam Monson of Hatton-Northwood-Thompson have taken turns in beating each other up all year and each is capable of winning it.
Take Hutchison with you the next time you fly to Vegas.  His predictions were right on as Bridger Belzer made his move one mile into the race and ran away from the rest of the 18 school field, and Griggs County and Rugby dominated their divisions.
It looked like Halloween was two weeks early during the boy’s race as the orange and black clad Ruby Panthers dominated this race by placing six runners in the top eleven places.  It was the second straight East Region cross country title for the East Region’s Coach of the Year in the Panthers’ Bill Jansen.  The bad news for the other competing schools in the East is that only two of the top six Rugby performers graduate and they were the fifth and sixth runners for the Panthers at this meet.
Of the top 20 runners, Rugby claimed six of the all region performers (top 20), Valley City two, Lisbon one, Cavalier two, North Star one, Central Cass one, Grafton two, Dunseith one, Carrington one, Hatton-Northwood-Thompson one, Four Winds one, and Velva one.  Team scores were reflected in the number of runners a school placed in the top twenty as Rugby with six all-region performers finished first and Valley City and Grafton, each with two all-region performers, finished in second and third in the team scoring race.
Donovan Williams was Lisbon’s lone all-region performer, as the Bronco sophomore finished in 15th place with his time of 18:35. This was Williams’ second straight year that he made All Region.  As a freshman, Williams earned his 17th place trophy.
It was another “just miss” for sophomore Connor Stotts, and his third successive 22nd place effort.  The NDHSAA allowed Valley City to move to the B ranks this year, and three Hi-Liner runners finished ahead of Stotts on Saturday.
Jacob Gallagher at 26th, Josh Hinkemeyer at 45th, and Kieran Hall at 68th rounded out Lisbon’s sixth-place team score of 177.
Eighth graders Thomas Horgeshimer and Corwin Cavett finished in 72nd     and 115th place.
Elena Lee and her 41st-place effort led the Lisbon girls.  Tyann Henderson and Whitney Toyne finished in 54th and 84th place.
Boy’s Team scores
1.  Rugby    36    2.  Valley City    111
3.  Grafton    166
4.  Cavalier    168
5.  Northstar    173
6.  Lisbon    177
7.  Central Cass    213
8.  Griggs County    216
9.  Hatton-North-Thompson    257
10. Dunseith    297
11. Carrington    351
12. Warwick    372
13. Four Winds    376
14. Langdon    426
15. Richland    429
16. Velva    506
17. Central Prairie    544
18. Larimore    568
Boys Individual scores        1.  Belzer of North Prairie    17:27
2.  Askew of Cavalier    17:33
3.  Page of Carrington    17:36
4.  Volk of Rugby    17:37
5.  Smith of Grafton    17:39
6.  Wangler of Rugby    17:42
7.  W. Thompson of Rugby    17:47
8.  Monson of H-N-T    17:47
9.  G. Thompson of Rugby    17:57
10. Yoder of Rugby    18:06
11. Jundt of Rugby    18:16
12. Frick of Central Cass    18:26
13. Will of Valley City    18:29
14. Three Iron, Four Winds    18:33
15. Fogarty of Valley City    18:33
16. Williams of Lisbon    18:35
17. Thorlakson, Valley City 18:36
18. Marion of Dunseith    18:41
19. Lundquist of Grafton    18:42
20. Vail of Valley City    18:48
22. Connor Stotts of Lisbon    18:50
26. Jacob Gallagher, Lisbon    19:06
45. Josh Hinkemeyer, Lisbon
19:42
68. Kieran Hall of Lisbon    20:46
72. Thomas Horgeshimer, Lisbon
20:52
115. Corwin Cavett, Lisbon 24:41
Outstanding senior nominees:
Anthony Askew of Cavalier, Dylan Yoder and Dustin Jundt of Rugby.  Boys Coach of the Year – Bill Jansen of Rugby.
Girl’s Team Scores
1.  Griggs County    62
2.  Velva    77
3.  Carrington    111
4.  Valley City    115
5.  Rugby    122
6.  Cavalier    134
7.  Grafton    157
8.  Dunseith    272
9.  Warwick    377
10. Richland    395
11. Lisbon    398
12. Four Winds    416
13. Larimore    422
14. Hillsboro    422
15. Langdon    425
16. Bottineau    438
17. Hatton-North-Thompson    444
Top 20 and Bronco runners
1. Yankton of Dunseith    15:45
2. Palmer of Griggs    15:56
3.  Kuntz of Velva    16:02
4. Kraft of Rugby    16:13
5. Heisler of Velva    16:24
6. Liljenquist of Griggs    16:36
7. Moen of Griggs    16:45
8. Ley of Valley City    16:46
9. Counts of Dunseith    16:49
10. Letawsky of Carrington    16:50
11. Sherlock of Velva    16:55
12. Furstenau of Cavalier    16:58
13. Longtine of Cavalier    16:59
14. Indergaard of Carrington    16:59
15. Keopplin of Carrington    17:00
16. Bondnar of Langdon    17:01
17. Suhr of Valley City    17:08
18. Peterson of Velva    17:08
19. Oien of Griggs    17:11
20. Woinarowicz of Grafton    17:14
41. Elena Lee of Lisbon    18:18
54. Tyann Henderson, Lisbon
18:56
84. Whitney Toyne, Lisbon     20:48
Outstanding Senior Nominees         Chelsea Halvorson of Rugby, Hailey Longtine of Cavalier, and Maggie Moen of Griggs County Central.
Coach of the Year – Rick Anderson of Griggs County Central.

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