| What an exciting race! The HS
team was hoping to even the team titles at five each, but
the alumni won the tie breaker with their sixth runner
placing higher than the current teams sixth runner. Josh
Klawitter, entering his third year running for SDSU, won
this race for the first time, after having been runner-up
the last four in a row. His time is the 3rd best on this
course, trailing only Joe Papin's course record of 16:42
from 2000 and six-time champion Mike Mack's winning time
from last year. Scott Weispfenning, running this fall for
Mankato State, was second for the alumni and third
overall and ran a time that placed him 12th on the
all-time alumni list. Kyle Schmidt was close behind Josh
with a time of 17:01. His time breaks the old sophomore
record by 50 seconds and is the best time for a Hutch HS
runner on this course! Kyle was on a mission this summer,
running 681 miles. It was a decent summer for the team as
four from last year's varsity ran at least 250 miles.
Nick Snitker completed 363 summer miles, Bryan Kegley ran
298, Ryan Ahlers ran 280 and Lukus Klawitter ran 276. It
should be an excellent season! Bryan improved 26 seconds
from his time last year by running the second best time
by a senior in the first time trial! Kyle and Bryan are
the first duo since records have been kept beginning in
1994 to run sub 18:00 in the first time trial. Also
making the list of top 25 times in the last 12 years were
Nick and Ryan. Nick ran a time that places him 20th on
the first time trial list while Ryan is now in 23rd
place. Four under 19:00 in the first time trial ties the
most we have had. Lukus Klawitter is a top five runner
but is out with a temporary injury. He would likely have
been close to his brother Josh's freshman record, but
won't get the opportunity with only one time trial this
year. It was a great team effort as the team times chart
shows. This team ranks #2 in both top 5 and top 7 times!
Besides a personal best by Kyle, Michael Collins and
Justin Fain also ran personal best times. Congratulations
to them and to Matt McKeever, Max Blom and Sean Ahlers
for running their first 5K for the team. It is always fun
to compare times to the same race a year ago, and this
year, the comparison is especially good. Of the six
runners who ran this race a year ago, all cut time! Kyle
cut 3:12, Derek Schwarzrock cut 2:43, Michael cut 1:56,
Ryan cut 53 seconds, Nick cut 48, and Bryan cut 26. It
was an excellent job of pacing by most runners as the
2500 meter splits above show. Matt and Michael ran in the
top 7 for the first time ever while Derek ran in the top
7 for the third time. It was a sort of milestone for
Bryan and Ryan as both ran in the top 7 for the 25th time
each. Thanks to the alumni participants. Brian Barrick
earned a trophy for his 10th appearance at this race,
although he was unable to compete for the first time due
to a recent ankle injury. For the team, it was an
excellent first week of training with fewer injuries than
recent years. The top runners completed over 60 miles.
One change in this year's schedule is that there will not
be a second time trial. The next race will be at St.
Cloud Apollo, but at a new location. The new site in is
southeast St. Cloud on the GreyStone Trails near the
prison. If this time trial is an indication of the
season, it looks to be a very promising year. |