The Dragons traveled to Madison, MN for the Section 3A Cross Country Championships. The meet consisted of 24 different teams from all over Southwest Minnesota. The weather was chilly but the Dragons came ready to run.
The first race of the day belonged to the girls. They were looking to complete the 5,000 meter course. The Dragons were once again, and for the final time, led by their senior, Moriah Bullerman. Bullerman had a fantastic effort as she placed 22nd in her last cross country race wearing blue and gold with a time of 21:05. Second for the Dragons was sophomore Hiltyn Heitkamp, who also had a fine race and really good season, running 23:30 to place 64 of the 120 runners. Gracia Elias ran 24:42 and was a solid and consistent force for the Dragons all year. Eighth grader Hunter Penning continued to show throughout the second half of the season that she was ready for the varsity level and ran closely behind Elias in 24:47. The fifth runner for the Dragons and real spark plug this season was Taya Elias. Taya ran a personal best time on the season, completing the 5K in 25:00 even. The girl’s placed 11th in the section as a team scoring 334 points.
On the boy’s side, three boys competed. All three of them had personal best times. The Dragons were led by freshman Dylan Graff. Graff began the race in a controlled pace. As the race progressed, he did the same passing countless runners to run a 19:10 and placing 49th of 141 runners. Next in for Adrian was another eighth grader in Bruce Farinella. Farinella’s determination led him to a personal best by over a minute, running 21:03. Finally, Ky Ruppert had a great day for himself. After dealing with a sore ankle for the second half of the season, Ruppert never quit. He put together the best run of his career, finished strong, and ended in 24:50.
Great job to all of the Dragons on a wonderful season.
