Girls cross country: Irish pick up where they left off

Posted under Apple Valley Sports,Burnsville Sports,Eagan Sports,Rosemount Sports on Thursday 9 September 2010 at 2:30 pm

by Andy Rogers
Thisweek Newspapers

It looks like the magic the Irish captured in 2009 won’t be vanishing anytime soon.

The girls team will have six of the seven runners that helped Rosemount finish 10th in the Class AA state meet last fall. It was the first time the team qualified since 1981.

At their own Irish Invitational on Sept. 3, Rosemount finished in sixth place, with Armstrong the only nonranked team to finish ahead of Rosemount.

Tori Grund and Ashley Comstock paced the Irish with 20th- and 22nd-place finishes, respectively. Just 40 seconds separated the seven Irish runners.

“We have more depth this season than in the past, evidenced by our small one through seven spread,” coach Chris Harder said. “We have a lot of work to do, but this was a good opening meet.”

Other key runners who should help Rosemount get back to state include Bridget Burkard, Sara Feeser, Emily Davis, Laura Dennis and Hannah Grim.

Apple Valley

The Eagles certainly aren’t loaded with seniors in 2010, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have any speed or endurance.

The girls ran to fourth place at the Dakota Classic. Alexa Nelson was the top finisher for Apple Valley, coming in ninth overall out of more than 60 runners.

Hannah Segar was about 20 seconds behind her, coming in 15th.

They’ll be running with fellow juniors Abbey Singleton, Natalie Webb, Kaitlin Hattouni and Madison Ihrke this year, along with sophomore Meredith Jones.

Burnsville

Coach Charlie Burnham is encouraged about Burnsville girls cross country after the Blaze finished third at the South High Tigers Invitational at St. Catherine University in St. Paul on Sept. 3. The high finish was  boosted by Vivian Hett’s first-place finish.

“Numbers are up, and hopefully that will provide us with a little more depth than we have had in the past,” Burnham said. “We’re very young, so a little hard work and patience will be necessary before we show how well these girls will do.”

The list of returning girls is long, headed by Sharmila Ahmed, who owns the school record in the 4,000-kilometer run.

“She has more competition within the team than she has had in a couple years, so currently no record is safe,” Burnham said.

She’ll have Alissa Fisher,
Rissa Lane, Sierra Adrian, and Maddy Wedan help lead a group with several freshmen and eighth-graders.

“We are very young, but we have some fantastic upperclassmen to show them the ropes,” Burnham said.

The younger varsity runners looking to help out include Rachel Schwake, Tori Felton, Jordan Horner and Lisa Ranft.

The biggest worry for Burnham is the team staying healthy.

“Last year our biggest obstacle was the swine flu,” Burnham said.

Eagan

The Wildcats started the season on the right pair of running shoes. The girls were second-best at home in the Dakota Classic on Sept. 3.

Elizabeth Frick started her cross country career off right, running to a school record for this 3,200-meter course and finishing in second place.

Danielle Anderson wasn’t far behind at fourth place, and Michaela Banz dropped her time from last year significantly while coming in eighth.

“All of them are working extremely hard to achieve the goals that they have set for themselves and the team this season,” coach Lisa Langenhahn said.  “We are injury free, and hoping we can stay that way.”

Eagan will also get some points from fellow runners Alanna Stangl, Heather Goff, Libby Jacoby and Phoebe Craig.

“The girls have had a great three weeks of practice and wanted to prove to everyone that they have been working hard,” Langenhahn said.

Eastview

The Lightning have one returning runner with state tournament experience in Anne Ferguson. She finished in 45th place at state last year.

The team narrowly missed out on qualifying all the runners, missing the cut by 22 points last year.

The team will also have Courtney Conroy, Jena Moody, MacKenzie Burkstrand and Lindsey Schoenecker on its side in 2010.

Andy Rogers is at
andy.rogers@ecm-inc.com.

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