Runners log hundreds of miles in preparation for the CC season

Area cross country athletes have logged hundreds of miles this summer in preparation for their fall season, say coaches. While the Minnesota State High School League moved football and volleyball to the spring, cross country was maintained.
“They look really good,” said Byron girls varsity cross country coach Tom O’Leary. “Our girls returned all of the varsity athletes from last season plus we’ve got three or four girls who will compete with those to try to earn a varsity spot. It’s a good position to be in because we were really young last year. Now they’ve matured and gotten stronger, so we are excited.”
Byron has 24 female runners in grades 7-12 competing on varsity, junior varsity and junior high teams. Seven runners are allowed to run at the varsity level.
“All seven who competed last year are returning,” O’Leary said. “That’s rare. A lot of teams in our conference lost runners. That happens. It didn’t happen to us.”
A few girls put on 400 miles this summer and others logged 300 miles. “They’ve been really committed,” O’Leary said.
Typically at a cross country meet teams would compete against 20 or more teams at a time. This year, because of COVID-19, there are no more than three teams allowed at a single competition.
Byron is trying to minimize travel, O’Leary said, and will host five meets in Byron and only travel twice. That’s a COVID precaution, he said.
He expects big things from his seasoned team this fall. “The Byron girls have never won a conference championship,” O’Leary said. “This year that’s their goal and we do believe we have an opportunity and we’re going to go for it.”
“The girls were relieved (to come back),” he said. “They were really good last year and now they’ve put in even more miles over the summer. Their expectations are higher. It’s really fun to watch. There’s a lot of drive.”
Brandon Vogen, Byron boys varsity cross country coach, said the varsity, JV and junior high teams are looking good. They have 27 runners in grades 7-12.
“They look good,” Vogen said. “We’re definitely young. We lost 12 seniors last year. We’re much younger than we have been in years past. But we have a handful of guys who put a ton of miles on this year so we’re hoping to have a good season. They’re all competing hard in practice. The competitiveness is higher than ever before.”
He said a season goal is to earn all conference honors, and continue to improve.
“We’ll probably have a few freshmen running on our varsity, which we haven’t had in some time,” Vogen said. “We want to continue to grow and improve as a team.”
Byron senior Braydon Entgelmeier said it’s good to be back running again. “It feels good to be able to do something after all this stuff that’s happened with coronavirus It’s nice to be able to get moving. This summer we did practicing on our own, so it’s nice to be able to get together with other people to run.”
Kasson-Mantorville boys and girls cross country coach Jared Pittman said his team is very young this year. KM also has runners from Triton on its combined team.
 
“We lost a lot of seniors the last couple of years,” Pittman said. “We’ve got a lot of newer and younger kids. It’ll be different this year but we’ll be all right.”
K-M has five meets scheduled this year, and Pittman doesn’t yet know if there will be a section or state meet this season. He has 23 runners between the boys and girls programs.
In Hayfield, coach Kellie Baker said her girls and boys cross country teams of 7-12 graders have some definite leaders ready to shine this season. Captains Grace Becker and Isaiah Tempel are both “stepping up in different ways,” Baker said.
Her squad’s strength is its sheer numbers. The Hayfield cross country program has more than 30 athletes this year compared to 19 last year. Thirteen of the 30 participating athletes are returning from last year.
“We got a handful of new junior high athletes so it’s nice to see they are trying something new,” Baker said. “We also have older athletes trying cross country for the first time. Everyone has worked really hard. Attitudes have been great too.”
“I think with cross country starting, it starts to make life seem more normal or back to normal,” she said. “Now that we’ll be in person for school too, that also helps. Just slowly getting back into the grind of things. They are all having fun.”
Baker said everyone is ready to be back to their regular sports and activities. “I’m just excited to get the season going more and seeing what all these athletes are capable of,” Baker said. “I can’t wait to see their times and see how they do overall.”