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EVANSVILLE - The Ashby-Brandon-Evansville cross country program hosted a home meet at Pine Ridge Golf Course in Evansville on Tuesday and was led by strong finishes by Ashley Paulson on the varsity girls side and Logan Froemming on the varsity boys side.
“It was a gorgeous evening for a race, even with the wind,” A-B-E head coach Robert Bosma said. “The team is running well right now and had a lot of support from fans, so they wanted to make a statement with their times. From a coaching perspective, I think they ran amazingly.”
Froemming placed eighth in a 41-runner field with a time of 18:28 and helped the A-B-E boys place fourth out of six. Froemming is looking for bigger things moving forward, including setting a personal record and breaking the school record.
“I didn’t hit my PR in this race, but I was close,” he said. “Over the next couple of meets, I aim to set that PR and break the school record. It’s going to take a lot of training, hard work, and perseverance.”
Hunter Norby set the A-B-E boys program record with a time of 18:08 in 2020.
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Froemming’s PR is 18:20.80, which he set at the Perham Invite on Oct. 6. Froemming is a senior and has been one of the leaders of the program so far this season.
“I’ve been leading the team in exercises and warm-ups and am trying to be an overall example,” he said. “My goal this season is to break the school record and leave the team in great shape.”
The A-B-E boys scored 104 team points in the meet.
With four top-seven finishes, including a 1-2 finish by Brady Rach (16:52.20) and Zane Guderjahn (17:29.10), Bertha-Hewitt won the boys varsity team meet with 27 points.
A-B-E’s Kenneth Spielman and Carter White cracked the top 20, with Spielman finishing 18th (20:13.90) and White finishing 20th (20:30.80). Logan Haseman finished with a time of 21:55.6 (28th), Donell Lee finished with a time of 22:35.70 (30th), Darius Grussing finished in 22:40.20 (31st), and Cohen Reiland finished with a time of 25:05.80 (38th).
“Carter is someone who is new to the sport and has only run one other meet but is making his mark on this team. He has a lot of potential if he keeps working hard,” Bosma said. “Ken and Logan Haseman are running steady right now and looking more relaxed each meet. Some of the other guys in JV and varsity are battling injuries or recovering from being sick, but if they can get healthy, they have been running great.”
The Parkers Prairie Panthers finished just behind A-B-E in fifth place with 109 points. James Suchy led the way for the team with a third-place finish (17:39.80).
“I felt pretty good about my time,” Suchy said. “It wasn’t my best, but this is a pretty tough course.”
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Moving forward, Suchy’s goal is to cut his time to 17 minutes or less.
“I want to run a 17-flat,” he said.
Isaac Grabow also finished in the top 20 with a 19th-place finish (20:25.19). Evan Washburn ran a time of 21:51.7 (26th), and Pablo Munoz-Duque finished with a time of 21:59.90 (29th). Ross Kortenbusch ran a time of 23:01.20 (32nd), and Jayme O’Brien finished in 27:54.80 (40th).
On the girls’ side, Paulson placed 13th overall in a 28-runner field with a time of 23:29.6.
Naomi Fournier also ran in the girls varsity race and ran a time of 27:59.10.
“Ashley ran well; she is a competitor, and she is getting into her own right now. Naomi ran well also,” Bosma said. “I gave her the choice to run JV or varsity, knowing she could probably get a JV medal, but she chose to run varsity. Her improvement from the first race is amazing, and she is figuring out the race strategy. The junior high teams are getting stronger every race. Some of the girls float back and forth between running varsity, JV, or JH. They are learning to compete and are pushing each other every day.”
Parkers Prairie also had two runners in the girls varsity race. Sarah Yoyli ran a time of 26:06.80 (22nd), and Taylor Duberowski ran a time of 30:16.70 (27th).
Wadena-Deer Creek, Otter Tail Central and New York Mills were the only teams to yield enough varsity runners to have a team score. W-DC won the girls meet with 22 points.
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Katie Holzner of Hillcrest won the girls race with a time of 20:24.00.
Both A-B-E and Parkers Prairie are on the road for a meet in Menahga at Blueberry Pines Golf Club on Oct. 18 at 3:30 p.m.
GIRLS TOP TEN FINISHES - 1. Katie Holzner, Hillcrest, 20:24.00; 2. Norah Froslee, 20:40.10, Otter Tail Central; 3. Britta Sweeney, Wadena-Deer Creek, 20:42.40; 4. Judit Moller, Hillcrest, 21:39.60; 5. Amber Collins, Wadena-Deer Creek, 21:42.70; 6. Lydia Oldakowski, 21:58.60; 7. Brielle Kern, Wadena-Deer Creek, 22:04.80; 8. Erica Heibel, Otter Tail Central, 22:09.10; 9. Brielle Malone, New York Mills, 22:09.20; 10. Mia Arroyo, Verndale, 22:15.30.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES - 1. Wadena-Deer Creek, 22; 2. Otter Tail Central, 42; 3. New York Mills, 71
BOYS TOP TEN FINISHES - 1. Brady Rach, Bertha-Hewitt, 16:52.20; 2. Zane Guderjahn, Bertha-Hewitt, 17:29.10; 3. James Suchy, Parkers Prairie, 17:39:80; 4. Peter Newark, Otter Tail Central, 17:46.2; 5. Preston Miller, Bertha-Hewitt, 17:56.50; 6. Lane Hoefs, Wadena-Deer Creek, 18:00.50; 7. Zane Baumgartner, Bertha-Hewitt, 18:05.40; 8. Logan Froemming, Ashby-Brandon-Evansville, 18:28.00; 9. Talyn Setterholm, Otter Tail Central, 18:34.60; 10. Phillip Ross, Wadena-Deer Creek, 18:36.30
BOYS TEAM SCORES - 1. Bertha-Hewitt, 27; 2. Otter Tail Central, 52; 3. Wadena-Deer Creek, 70; 4. Ashby-Brandon-Evansville, 104; 5. Parkers Prairie, 109; 6. New York Mills, 154
