Cross country team races at Heartland Preview

The Hill City Ranger cross country team traveled to Yankton last weekend to compete in the Nike Heartland Preview at Yankton Trail Park, facing a large competitive field of runners from across the region.

“When you’re taking that much time to drive across the state, as a coach, you’re hopeful that it pays off, and I think it did,” said head coach Joe Noyes.

On the boys’ side, John Titus “JT” Isakson led the Rangers with a 45th-place finish in 17:07, followed by Jeremiah White, who placed 74th in 17:41.2. Sorren Farrar finished 119th in 18:18.7, while Rowdy Isakson crossed the finish line 143rd of 273 finishers with a time of 18:35.4.

“We took four boys who ran really well,” said Noyes. “I was really pleased. It’s a massive race, and we had JT get 45th.”  

He added, “I think Soren and Rowdy were within the top 40 of class A and B kids. So it was a really good performance.”

Nora Moss paced the Hill City girls, finishing 90th out of 222 runners with a time of 21:07.7. Hadley Walker followed in 127th at 21:59.6, just ahead of teammate Aspen Veneklasen, who placed 129th with a 22:00.6. Aliyah Peters finished 163rd in 22:48.5, and Phoebe Bentley-Buschur rounded out the Rangers’ varsity in 188th with a time of 23:35.0.

“I think our girls ran really well,” said Noyes. “You’re excited when the kids go that far and take advantage of it.”

The junior varsity also made a notable appearance with seventh graders Quinn Walker and Savannah Hansen finishing 18th (17:14.7) and 21st (17:21.1) respectively out of 144 finishers.

Next, the Rangers will compete in Presho  Saturday at the Lyman Raider Nation Invitational Cross Country Meet at Medicine Creek Golf Course.