Posted: 11/3/04

Girls cross country crosses the finish line

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

Going into last Wednesday's section 4AA meet at Goodrich Golf Course, the Forest Lake High School girls cross country team wanted to finish in the top half of the pack. When the last racer crossed the finish line, the Rangers had secured themselves an eighth place finish out of 16 teams.

"It was a good meet for us," Rangers head coach Janet Howe said. "I think all our kids ran well and it was a good end of the season cap off for us."

Leading the Rangers in the race was sophomore Auralee McGary who finished the 4000 meter course in 16:16. Sophomore Kristi Buerkle was not far behind McGary with a time of 16:41, followed by freshman Annie Dehmlow (17:03), senior Sarah Wright (17:13), junior Shawna McNamara (17:21), freshman Sarah Mitchell (17:28) and senior Chelynne Pringle (17:35).

Howe pointed out that the course at Goodrich Golf Course was a bit more difficult than the conference course at Falcon Ridge Golf Course so the girls times may not have been as low, but she says their performances were much better.

"I think overall we walk away with this knowing it was a positive season and we have a lot to build on," Howe said.

Moving on

With seniors Wright, Pringle, Katie Clark and Becky Alexander leaving the team, Howe is optimistic about the group of girls she will have returning next season.

"I think with what we have coming back next year and the JV girls who proved themselves, we're looking at having a pretty good core group of runners next year," Howe said. "We have a great base with a lot of promise and the kids are excited about running. Hopefully we'll be able to build on that with some of the girls having a little experience running at the varsity level."

Top of Page