Vikings have final meet of season
The AHSTW Vikings had five runners performing at the cross country state qualifying meet Thursday, but unfortunately nobody qualified as a team or as an individual. The team finished fourth overall with 105 points, finishing 69 points behind the winner, Treynor with 36 points.
Junior Viking Ava Paulsen was the fastest Viking runner, taking an overall finish of 15th with a time of 21:50.70, a little over two minutes behind the winner, Junior Allysen Johnsen of Logan-Magnolia, who won with 19:32.40.
“She got out fairly quick and did a good job of maintaining the pace for the most part,” said Viking Head Coach Jackson Renberg. “Overall, she had a personal best for the season, so she had a good race.”
The next two Viking runners were Junior Makenna Paulsen and Sophomore Bella Lamp taking 22nd and 23rd place finishes overall. Paulsen ran 22:29.30, with Lamp coming in right behind her at 22:35.10. Lamp missed a majority of the season due to injuries.
“Makenna had a good run and tied her personal best of the season at a slightly tougher course than her previous personal best,” Renberg said. “I think Bella had a great race. It was great to see her race and finish out the season. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to compete as much as the team and herself would have liked her to, but she had a really good finish for the season and had a really good time despite missing a lot of practice time this year because of her injury. I know her season would have been a lot different if she would have been able to run the whole year, but it was good to see her finish out the season, and hopefully next year she will be healthy and be able to show her talents.”
The final two Viking runners that finished were Freshman Emery Brockhoff at 31st with 23:36.60, and Sophomore Yana Lander in 35th with 24:30.60.
Despite having a small team this season, Renberg was pleased with the results the girls had over the season, including some individuals who improved as the season progressed.
“I thought we made some pretty solid strides from the start of the season to the finish,” he said. “I was extremely impressed with Makenna Paulsen and the time she took off from the start of the year to the end of the year. I also thought Emery Brockhoff made some huge strides and really started to figure out the 5k. I am excited to see what she can do next year with a year under her belt.”
With no seniors on his roster, Renberg is optimistic all these girls will return, along with some new faces who could join the program.
“I am excited about the potential they have,” he added. “If they come back and have a good summer under their belt, they can be a really good team. Potential doesn’t necessarily mean anything if we don’t put the work in, but the talent is there and if they come back and work hard they could have a very fun season next year.”