Wadena-Deer Creek Noah Ross kickstarted his senior campaign with a fifth place finish at the Central Minnesota River Run at the Vintage Golf Course in Staples, Minn., on Aug. 29.
The senior runner crossed the finish line with a time of 17 minutes and 52.6 seconds, leading the way for the Wolverines, who finished seventh as a team.
“It was definitely hard with the heat. There were a lot of open areas that seemed flat, but they were extra hard because of the sun beating down on you,” Ross said. “Overall, it was a good course without muddy conditions. It was good for racing.”
Ross said his plan was to go out with the top group and see how far he could go.
“It was a baseline for this whole year to see where I am at and where I have to get to,” Ross added. “Usually, I don’t hit 17’s until mid-season and close to sections. This is a reflection of how hard I worked during the summer.”
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Ross said it was nice to get the first race jitters out of the way as they get ready to host a meet on Sept. 5.
Buffalo was the overall team winner for the meet, finishing with 23 points. Detroit Lakes finished in second place with 85 points. Gibbons-Fairfax-Winthrop came in third with 91 points, followed by Staples-Motley and Ottertail Central, who rounded out the top five. Wadena-Deer Creek finished with 182 points for seventh place.
“I think we did pretty good with the heat,” Ross said. “It’s always hard with the first race. We were missing one racer, but overall, I think it’s a good baseline.”
Buffalo cruised to the victory with five runners inside the top 10. Leading the way was Isaac Basten, who finished first with a time of 16:42.7. Staples-Motley’s Emmet Anderson came in second at 16:58.4, followed by a pair of Buffalo runners Nick Oak and Braden Benson, who finished with times of 17:41.4 and 17:47.2, respectively. Ross rounded out the top five for Wadena-Deer Creek.
Isaac Ries came in 34th place, finishing with a time of 20:22.8. He was followed by Lucas Hinojos, who came in 40th at 20:49.9. Joshua Tabery came in 44th place at 21:24.2. Bereket Loer followed in 59th place at 23:23.1. Wyatt Peterson rounded out the field for W-DC, finishing with a time of 25:54.0 for 70th place.
Next action for the Wolverines comes on Sept. 5 when they host the annual Johanna Olson Invitational at the Whitetail Run Golf Course.
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