After state success, Hawks challenge themselves in Sioux Falls
After their second-place team finish in the WIAA Division 3 cross country state championships on Nov. 2, members of the Prentice-Rib Lake boys cross country team took on one more challenge this past Sunday.
Seven of the Hawks traveled to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the Nike Cross Regional (NXR) meet. The Heartland Regional Championships featured runners and club teams from South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Competing under the name of “The Mile Long Journey,” the team placed 22nd out of 45 teams in the 10:45 a.m. Section 6 race. When combined with all of the entries in the Boys Open 5K, the team placed 69th out of 258 teams.
There were 379 finishers in Section 6 of the boys open competition and 2,239 overall.
In Section 6, Henry Regier led The Mile Long Journey with a 68th-place time of 16:31.8 that would’ve been just off his best time of the high school season, which was 16:27. Jack Regier got the last spot in the top 100 by finishing in 16:43.7.
Kaleb Scott got back under 18 minutes for the first time in a month while placing 202nd in 17:39.5. The next three team members weren’t far behind Scott and in a tight pack. Heston Hueckman was 227th in 17:58.8, a time that was really close to his best high-school time of the fall, which was 17:55.2. Jeremy Wiitala was next in 228th, also at 17:58.8, just off his best highschool time of 2024, which was 17:54.8. Jackson Schutt was 230th and cracked the 18-minute barrier for the first time this fall by the slimmest of margins as he was clocked at 17:59.9.
Truman Smith rounded out the crew and was 281st in 18:43.7.
William Ahrens of Redwood Valley, Minn. won the Section 6 race and was the overall champion as well with his time of 15:24.8. He beat Jack Crossland of the “Dragoons” and Johnston, Iowa was second in Section 6 and overall in 15:33.8. Redwood Valley also had the third-place finisher in the section with Kilen Cilek, who finished in 15:39.2. He was fifth overall.
In the Section 6 competition, the Northwest Wolfpack D, a team from Iowa won the team title with 81 points, well ahead of Little Hawk XC (155), a team from Iowa City. The Mile Long Journey accumulated 592 team points in the Section 6 race.
Overall, Henry Regier ranked 171st, Jack Regier ranked 257th, Scott was 724th, Hueckman was 881st, Wiitala was 883rd, Schutt was 891st and Smith was 1,252nd. The Northwest Wolfpack D also won the overall team championship with 193 points, easily beating runner-up Buffalo XC A out of Minnesota (359). The Mile Long Journey’s 69th-place finish came with 2,069 accumulated team points.
